Backup Plan 2
by Xovinx
Summary: It has been over a year since the Aizen Incident, and the forming of the Fourteenth Division of Seireitei. The reincarnated Arrancar now work alongside their once-enemies to defend the Living World... but the line between friend and foe can be blurry, and the young Fourteenth Division cannot afford to make enemies. Unfortunately, that is precisely what they are best at.
1. Prologue and Introduction

Prologue

The streetlights abruptly began flickering, erratic and faded, as Halibel walked down the broken asphalt road.

The dark-skinned woman glanced at them, her cold eyes analytical. Despite the poor conditions of this part of town, she had never seen the lights misbehave all together like this. This was something other then badly maintained equipment. This was something more... sinister.

Just as the thought crossed her mind, the lights around her for an entire block flickered one last time, then the street plunged into darkness.

Halibel went for her gun, a silenced pistol she never parted with. Even with the very limited spiritual energy she had access to, she recognized the feeling pressing down on her. A Hollow. Her human gun wouldn't provide much protection... but she felt better with it in hand, regardless.

A soft wind blew down the street, and she turned slightly to face the approaching presence.

_Curse this body,_ she thought to herself, tightening her finger against the trigger. Her hands were trembling rebelliously – she was well aware of her own vulnerability.

"Please, lower your weapon," came an unexpected voice from the deepest of the shadows. It was a male voice, calm and light without a hint of malice. She could almost hear the smile in his tone. "I have no desire to hurt you."

Halibel's eyes narrowed. "Who are you?" she asked sharply. "Come out where I can see you."

"A difficult request. These electronic lights do not seem to like me." Nonetheless, a shadowy figure detached itself from the darkness across the street and stepped closer.

"You still haven't said who you are," Halibel snapped, raising her gun higher to find this new target.

"My name," came the friendly reply, "is not important. You wouldn't recognize it even if I told you. But this meeting is not about me - it's about you."

"What about me?" Her distrustful tone didn't seem to phase the stranger in the slightest.

"You are Tia Halibel, yes? The third strongest Arrancar that ever lived, as I hear it. That kind of power is not to be thrown aside as lightly as your former master thought." There was a moment's pause. "I have heard good things about your strength, Halibel, but even more about the loyalty you inspire in those that followed you. And when I learned what Aizen and the Shinigami had done to you..."

Halibel was surprised by the venom that had crept into this stranger's voice. "Do I know you?" she asked, suspicious.

"No." The smiling tone was gone, replaced by one of grim remorse. "I was shadow when you were in power, and life has been hard in Hueco Mundo since Aizen fell and took our strongest with him. I hope to correct this, now, if you would let me."

He seemed so earnest, Halibel almost wanted to believe him. But Hollows did not trust easily, even one trapped as long as she had been in the human world.

"How do I know you don't just want to eat me?" she asked. "I can feel your presence, I know you're as Hollow as any of us."

"That does not mean I am utterly heartless, as you well know," came the response. The man stepped forward again, and a flickering light fell across his face, gleamed in his eyes. Halibel's fingers loosened around the grip of her gun. "I have come here for one reason, Halibel. Your sense of loyalty... I want it."

.

[Author's introduction.

I have three things to say in regards to my... very long hiatus.

Firstly: Huge thank yous to anyone who has read the original Backup Plan, and anyone who is now here to read the sequel. BP1 was... a slow burn, and I really appreciate those of you who read it as it was coming out, those who read it after I vanished, and anyone brave enough to go back and read it now. (Though... I may end up including a summary of the story-so-far here just so no one interested in BP2 has to refresh/introduce themselves to the plot by rereading BP1.)

Secondly: I know the sequel is too late. To be perfectly honest, BP2 has been mostly finished for years – I really was writing it while submitting the final chapters of BP1 – but after a bitter falling out with Bleach, manga, and anime in general, I just had no heart to write the grand finale. By the time I got over that falling out, four years had passed. But I did make a promise to my Backup Plan readers, so I sat down, finished the thing, and now I'm going to submit it whether there is anyone to read it or not.

I'm so very sorry it took so long, guys...

Lastly: Due to a four-year gap between writing the majority of this book and writing the ending, the finale may read very, very differently from BP1 or most of BP2. I did remember how most of the story was supposed to end, but there were one or two more minor storylines I just couldn't figure out how I intended on concluding. Hopefully these will not be too distracting.

The book is fully completed, so I will be able to submit regularly. The chapters tend to be shorter then in the first, so I plan on maintaining a twice-a-week schedule (probably Mondays and Thursdays after the prologue.)

Thank you for reading.]


	2. A Summary of the Events of Book 1

A Summary of Backup Plan (The Aizen Incident) for the convenience of readers new and old.

Backup Plan relies strongly on relationships, which are difficult to summarize. If you are a patient reader who wants more context for BP2, but doesn't want to read all the less-then-thrilling setup that plagues Backup Plan, I suggest reading at least the Interludes (every other site chapter), and then the main chapters from Chapter 33 (Ch. 66 by site reckoning) to the end of the book. Hopefully this summary will be helpful, and I hope you enjoy BP2!

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Before the Winter War, several of the Espada and Fraccions, deciding they did not want to risk death for a Shinigami, banded together in a secret group to brainstorm ways to escape the entire situation. Ultimately, their fates were left in the hands of Szayelaporra, who (in his brainstorming) came up with a high-risk, emergency plan to record the powers and memories of the group members to be redownloaded into their souls next reincarnations. With the war coming far quicker then anticipated, he had no time to come up with a better idea and the Arrancar were slaughtered, relying on Szayel's backup plan to 'save' them.

Kurosaki Ichigo, with the aid of a rogue Zanpakuto named Muramasa and his own inner Hollow (who was manifested by Muramasa during that fight), defeated Aizen at the end of the war. Aizen was captured by Soul Society and sentenced to 20,000 years in the deepest prison in Seireitei.

Some time later, Ichigo got married and settled down with an unnamed woman, with whom he had a daughter; Kurosaki Ryohime. Tragically, Ichigo's wife died shortly afterwards.

While Ryohime was very young, Ichigo handed Muramasa down to her, reasoning that the two might bond in a way he could not (already having achieved bankai with his own Zanpakuto). His gamble seemed to pay off, and Ryohime achieved Muramasa's shikai within a few years.

When Ryohime was nine, Ichigo took her to visit the Kuchikis in Soul Society. During their visit, Ichigo's Hollow unexpectedly manifested again and began wreaking havoc, nearly killing Ichigo in the process. Ryohime ran to her father's defence, not realizing how much danger she was in until the Hollow spotted her. Moments from getting killed, time seemed to freeze, and as Ryohime ran away she somehow found a Senkaimon out of Seireitei,

From that day, the bridges between Soul Society and Seireitei fell apart. Kai, Ichigo's modsoul, tried his best to raise Ryohime, and she in turn did her best to protect Karakura Town without any help from real Shinigami.

During this time, she met and became best friends with two boys about her age.

The Backup Plan begins to take effect.

Throughout Karakura Town, a number of teenagers begin to experience unpredictable and bizarre problems, ranging from migraines to out-of-character behavior to seeing ghosts. These individuals, including Ryohime's two friends and the son of Ishida Uryu, are forced together by a mysterious woman and her assistants, where she explains the history of the Arrancar, Aizen, and the Backup Plan. She reveals to them that they are the reincarnations of those Arrancar who survived Szayelaporra's experiments, and that she is the last truly living Espada, Halibel. She was saved by Urahara after being betrayed by Aizen and agreed to be something of a mentor to the Backup Plan members, though her powers were greatly reduced by means of a special gigai. The reincarnation of Ulquiorra refuses to believe any of it and leaves, but the rest are more-or-less convinced.

After an intense battle with a former, disgraced Privaron Espada, many of the reincarnated Arrancars' powers began to take form, and (through lots of talking) they learned that Aizen was in the process of breaking out of his time-locked cell during Ryohime's last visit to Seireitei, and that several captains working together had established a time-stop over the entire city to stop him. They decided to break that time-stop and kill Aizen for good.

With Ryohime joining them due to her established friendship, and in hopes of finding and rescuing her father, they set off into Seireitei.

Seireitei has been driven into chaos by Aizen, completely unhinged after misjudging how long it would take for him to trick the time-lock, using illusion to amuse himself by ruining everyones' lives. Ryohime and her two friends (reincarnations of Starrk and Vega), defeat Ichigo's Hollow, but they are promptly caught in a web of illusions that put each one of them in nightmare situations, forcing them to fight other Shinigami, their own past selves, and the memories of their human loved ones. Ryohime, despite suffering a serious wound, manages to release Muramasa, who appeals to Kyoka Suigetsu directly.

Aizen's Zanpakuto agrees that his master is too far gone and allows himself to die, depriving Aizen of his illusions. The reincarnated Arrancar, scattered, wounded, and under attack by the Second Division (who believe them to be enemies), are in no position to defeat Aizen themselves, so Ichigo goes to face him himself. To his surprise, Starrk's reincarnation insists on fighting alongside him. The former First Espada has figured out his old powers more completely then any of the others, but even the two of them have trouble against the over-powered Aizen. Finally, they get unexpected reinforcements in the form of Ulquiorra's reincarnation, who was confronted by his past in the World of the Living in a way he could not deny, though he is very unhappy about it.

Together, the three of them come up with a plan to defeat Aizen which ultimately succeeds, but only because Ulquiorra sacrificed himself at a critical moment.

Despite their enemies being defeated, tensions remain high. The Second Division managed to kill Tesla before Ichigo arrived to break up the fight, and Vega's reincarnation was accused of murdering Unohana during Aizen's illusions. With Ichigo on their side and Kyoraku leading the discussion, the other former-Arrancar are eventually, if hesitantly, accepted as allies by Seireitei, but only if they agree to form the Fourteenth Division so Ichigo can keep an eye on them. They accept, except for Ishida Dikayumi (Aaroniero's reincarnation), who remains under the guardianship of his father.

The newly-formed Fourteenth Division returns to the World of the Living, determined to protect their hometown and their new friends. But conflict is always right around the corner...

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The Reincarnations

(Pardon the many Western names; they were placeholders I became too attached to to change.)

Starrk – Herald (Best friends with Vance and Ryohime. Very good connection to his Starrk powers, firm human identity.)

Vega – Vance (Best friends with Herald and Ryohime. Very weak connection to Vega's power, firm in his human identity. Unknowingly inherited Shinigami powers from his absent father.)

Grimmjow – Edward (Adopted brother of Steve. Unpredictable but strong connection to Grimmjow, powers and identity.)

Szayelaporra – Steve (Adopted brother of Edward. Very strong connection to Szayelaporra, powers and identity.)

Nnoitra – Charles (A book-worm with no friends. Fights against Nnoitra in bursts, like dissociative identities.)

Ulqiorra – James (A loner, but best friends with Steve. All or nothing in his relationship with his former life.)

Nel – Erina (Good friends with Chikuma and Tomatsu, begins to befriend with James. Shinigami powers from her father, firm human identity.)

Wonderwiess – Chikuma (Friends with Erina and Tomatsu. Wants nothing to do with this nonsense and does not participate.)

Yylfordt – Tomatsu (Friends with Erina and Chikuma until the Backup Plan activates, at which point Yylfordt completely overwrites the human identity.)

Aaroniero – Dikayumi (Out-of-towner. Youngest of the Quincy and Ishida Uryu's only son. Fights the Hollow connection every step of the way.)

Tesla – Yoshiro (Halibel's assistant. Unaware of his former life until just before his death.)


	3. Chapter One

Chapter One

A Hollow ripped through the sky, bellowing its challenge across the town that lay sprawling below.

Little did it now just how many ears that challenge actually reached.

.

Kurosaki Ryohime glanced up from her notebook, scanning the sky. The two young men with her, Yamichi Herald and Nakamura Edward, did the same, though their reactions after were very almost polar opposites. Herald quickly lost interest and closed his eyes again (he had been trying to nap for an hour), but Edward sat up with a grin.

"Seems like a fun opponent," he said happily, glancing at Herald. "Hey, who's on duty this afternoon?'

"Vance," Herald replied, sighing heavily to show what he thought of his companion's lax attention to the schedule. "He's heading over right now."

Ryohime frowned thoughtfully, closing her notebook on the half-finished sketch of a manga page. "Do you think...?" she started, then trailed off. Herald opened his eyes again, staring up at the sky with a similarly worried look.

"He should be able to handle it," he said finally. "I mean, he's fought worse."

Edward stood, brushing off his pants and reaching for a bone-white badge at his belt. "I'm going to go and watch," he said, though his intentions were clear. One touch on the small badge and his soul separated from his body, leaving the latter to slump over lifelessly.

While not all members of the Fourteenth "Special Units" Division were _actually_ Shinigami, they had all gone through the process of drawing their souls from their mortal bodies, and then trained to harden that spirit into a battle-ready warrior fitting their new duties. Edward's spirit-form, like those of Shinigami Daikos, was capable of complete independence, and he enjoyed transforming whenever he could.

"Vance is going to kill you if you interfere," Herald warned, and Edward rolled his eyes in response.

"I told you, I'm just going to watch. Who knows, maybe this will be the fight?"

Ryohime looked down, her deep friendship with their absent teammate not allowing her to say what she was thinking. That Vance's battle was still a _long_ way off.

"I'll go with you," she said suddenly, touching her own badge to transform as well. Herald glared at them, as if daring them to suggest he accompany them, but when it became clear that neither had any such intentions, he sighed and stood up anyway.

"Fine, fine, I'll come," he grunted. "But I think it's a little suspicious that you're going 'to watch' while you're _both_ in spirit form. Way to have faith in your nakama, there, guys."

Ryohime blushed slightly, seeing his point, but Edward merely snorted.

"You're reading too much into this, _Taichou-sama_," he said derisively. "Way to micro-manage."

"Stop calling me that," Herald retorted. "I am not, nor will _ever,_ be a captain, and I'm not micro-managing."

Edward snickered, but didn't reply as the three flashed away towards the Hollow, and impending battle.

Despite not being in spirit-form, Herald managed to keep up with both of his friends; one of the benefits of being a non-Shinigami member of the Division. His was an almost-Hollow reiatsu that he could channel just as easily in his own body, though he would be visible to the rest of the world if he tried to fight like that.

The battle had already been joined by the time they arrived, Kimura Vance in his black Shinigami robes darting around in the complex dance of death with a large, lithe Hollow. The thing vaguely resembled a lizard and Ryohime thought it actually looked rather familiar. Then, it struck her. Whiplash, a dangerous Hollow that preyed on spirits weaker then itself and ran from the stronger. She _had_ seen in before, and nearly been killed by it once, long ago.

Its reiatsu, while impressive for a mere Hollow, was far below what Ryohime, Herald, and Edward had faced over a year ago in Soul Society, and all three knew without a doubt they could defeat it easily in single combat. But... despite that, they stayed back.

This was Vance's fight.

The Shinigami Daiko was using his agility well, using Shunpo to dart around every attack the Hollow had to offer and then swooping in at every opening. Ryohime watched, and though her friend's forms and maneuvers were perfect, she realized he wasn't making progress. The Hollow kept its mask defended, and the cuts and slices Vance made along the arms and body of the creature only healed with Hollow regeneration after a few minutes.

"He's being played with," Herald muttered a moment later, actually tense with anger. "That thing is _toying_ with him." Ryohime looked at him in shock, then back at the battle. It took a few more clashes, but then she saw the pattern as well. The Hollow was teasing Vance, trying to frustrate him without revealing how much control it had over the battle. It was _letting_ Vance get in minor strikes, just to lure him deeper into the fight.

It would be a good ploy against Shinigami who habitually backed down from battles too difficult for them, a way to trick them into thinking they had the upper hand, but the Hollow needn't have bothered. Ryohime's frown deepened in concern. _Come on, Vance, you can do this..._

Then the Hollow burst into action, snatching Vance's sword as he came in for an attack. Vance, stubborn, bone-headed Vance, refused to let go of the Zanpakuto, and the Hollow threw both sword and Shinigami into the side of the nearest building.

Edward placed a hand on the hilt of his own Zanpakuto, visibly tensing for battle. Herald held up a hand to stop him, then glanced at Ryohime as if thinking she'd do the same.

"Don't. He can still win this."

The Hollow flashed in a weak, lower-form of Sonido towards Vance, into the dust cloud raised by the crash. Ryohime's hand unconsciously went to Muramasa, her own Zanpakuto, but Herald's words repeated themselves in her mind. And the words of another man, one she respected greatly but couldn't _quite_ agree with.

_This is a battle for Vance's honor, right, Ukitaki Ojiisan?_ she thought._ But only so long as he can actually fight..._

A scream broke the air.

Edward lunged forward, but Herald flashed in front of him, catching the younger man's shoulder.

"Not yet!" he said through gritted teeth. "I want to help too, but we can't keep jumping in. He'll never find his power if we keep helping."

"He's completely outclassed," Ryohime muttered, her heart aching in her chest as she listened to the now one-sided battle. "That Hollow is too powerful for..."

"For someone without shikai," Herald finished darkly. "But we _can't_..."

The dust cleared enough for Ryohime to see it when the Hollow smacked Vance with its tail, sending him hurtling to the pavement below. The impact made even Herald wince. Vance's reiatsu diminished noticeable.

The Hollow's cold laughter began echoing around the area as it pounced after the unconscious Shinigami Daiko.

Herald's hand dropped. He looked away, resigned. "Go on..."

Ryohime and Edward went.

"Whisper, Muramasa!" Ryohime exclaimed, drawing her Zanpakuto and releasing it in a single, smooth movement. The ghostly form of Muramasa appeared by her side, and in an instant he understood what he was to do.

Edward didn't release his sword, but he didn't need to. He shot down at the Hollow, matching and surpassing its speed so he overtook it before it reached the ground.

"Yo!" he shouted at it, his reiatsu burning like blue fire around him. "The king's here, and you're going down!"

Ryohime resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

The Hollow reacted differently, leaping away from Edward's not-so-sneaky attack the moment before he hit. It snarled as it landed on the side of a building, flicking its tongue at them.

The two Special Unit members pounced, Ryohime from above and Edward from below. The Hollow, thinking Ryohime looked the weaker of the two, scurried upward, only to be met with not only Ryohime, but the sudden appearance of Muramasa. Shinigami and Zanpakuto struck with lightning speed, slashing through the front and back of the Hollow's mask in perfect synchronicity.

Edward scowled as the Hollow wailed, disintegrating away into ash before their eyes.

"Oh, come on!" he complained, jumping up to the same level of empty air as Ryohime. Muramasa, his job done, vanished and Ryohime sheathed her now-sealed sword. "You knew I wanted that one."

"Yeah, but it chose to go after me and Muramasa," she retorted cheerfully. "Better luck next time, kitty."

"Guys," Herald called from across the street. "Vance."

The reminder silenced them both, and Ryohime immediately jumped down through the air to check on her friend.

Vance was already getting up, looking dazed and battered but not dangerously injured. At least he had avoided any obvious gaping wounds. Ryohime landed nearby and started forward. "Hey, Vance-"

He raised his head and glanced sideways at her, and Ryohime's greeting died in her throat. In that one moment, she wished with all her heart that she had stayed with Herald and not gotten involved.

His expression was one of self-disgust and utter shame, and he barely managed to look her in the eye before looking away again. He bent without a word to retrieve his fallen Zanpakuto and started walking away.

"Vance..." she tried to call after him, not expecting him to stop and not sure what to say if he did. He didn't.

Herald landed next to her, putting a hand on her shoulder as she watched Vance disappear into a side alley. "He'll get over it," he said, carefully, as if not entirely convinced either. "Vance always bounces back from these things."

Ryohime nodded, though she, like Herald, wasn't convinced. "Yeah. At least he's alive, right?"

And yet, she couldn't help but wonder if he would have preferred to die then have them interfere this time.


	4. Interlude 1

Interlude

"Why?! Why do you hate me? Why won't you talk to me?"

The Zanpakuto remained silent. Always silent. As if it had no life.

Vance screamed at the sky, throwing the stubborn sword at the alley's far wall before sliding down the one at his back. His lithe frame shuddered in rage even as he tried to stop himself from crying from frustration.

Everyone else had made it look so easy. They had all gotten it within two, three months.

What was wrong with him that his stupid sword wouldn't say anything?!

"I was _this_ close to dying," he snarled at it, angrily wiping his eyes. "Isn't that what you wanted? Isn't that what everyone is always saying forces Shinigami to find their strength? I keep throwing myself into these things, try to do my part for Soul Society despite being totally lost in the shadows of all my oh-so-powerful buddies, and yet you never say anything! Never _do_ anything! What, do I not matter anymore now that Aizen's gone, is that it? Or did I never mean anything to you at all?"

The sword lay on the pavement, silent.

Always silent.

Vance's throat burned, and he looked away. The world was blurring again... he turned and wiped his eyes on the shoulder of his robe.

It wasn't fair. It just... wasn't fair. He hated having to put it in those words - it seemed childish - but it seemed like that was the only way _to_ put it. Everyone else, even Herald (who never cared about _anything)_, had unlocked their powers without a problem. How was it fair that he, after over a year of trying, had yet to coax another single word from his Zanpakuto? That he, who loved the very idea of Shinigami and Hollows so much, was the only one to be denied their power?

"It's _not _fair."

This time, it wasn't Vance that said it.

His head snapped up, and for a moment his heart leapt with the possibility that...!

But it wasn't his Zanpakuto. This was a man, hooded and cloaked in purple and red. Vance wondered how this person could see him while he was in soul form, but then he sensed the slight reiatsu about him, and saw the fragment of pale bone resting against the man's shadowed cheeks.

An Arrancar.

Vance eyed him warily, but the Arrancar didn't seem to be about to attack. In fact, he gave Vance a sympathetic smile as he walked over to Vance's Zanpakuto, picking the weapon up from the ground.

"But, regardless of how unfairly your Zanpakuto might be treating you," the Arrancar said, brushing dirt off the silvery blade, "you should never treat it so disrespectfully." He offered it back to Vance, hilt first.

Vance looked at it for a moment, then back up at the strange Arrancar. "Who are you?" he asked, not caring that his voice was still hoarse and hostile. The Arrancar bowed slightly, still holding out Vance's sword.

"No one of importance," he said humbly. "I am merely looking for someone I've wanted to meet for many months."

"And you came to Karakura?" Vance asked.

"Indeed. You see, I seek the newly-created Fourteenth Division. Special Units of Seireitei, I believe they call themselves."

Vance nodded, eyes narrowing. "What do you want with them?"

Without warning a powerful reiatsu smashed down around them, creating a pressure in the air that forced Vance to the ground. The young Shinigami Daiko tried, without success, to rise, palms digging into the pavement, gasping for air that was suddenly not there.

"Nothing," replied the Arrancar softly, snapping Vance's Zanpakuto in two with his bare hands and dropping the fragments to the ground. "Of them, I require only a little screaming before they die."


	5. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

By the next morning, Ryohime was beginning to get worried.

She usually walked to school with Vance and Herald, and yet here the two of them were at the school gates with still no sign of Vance. Herald was looking around the yard, brow furrowed in concern.

"I don't see him anywhere," Ryohime said quietly, and Herald nodded.

"Don't sense him either."

They glanced at each other, then Herald sighed, scratching his head.

"I'll keep looking," he promised. Ever since last year, when the Special Units had been formed, he had stopped holding back and finished the grades he had been dragging his heels over. He no longer needed school as an excuse to hang out with his younger friends and, as one of the Division officers, he had a lot more work to do these days anyway.

Ryohime nodded. "Call me if you need me," she said, patting her pocket. Herald nodded, then lifted a hand in a lazy wave as Ryohime headed off towards the school.

She had a moment of relief when she walked into her homeroom, followed by returned anxiety. Vance was sitting at his desk, but the lack of reiatsu immediately reminded her that it was just Teke-kun, Vance's soul substitute. He looked up as Ryohime entered and smiled at her in greeting, but his eyes told her he was worried.

"You haven't seen him, either?" Ryohime muttered as she sat at her desk, and Teke shook his head.

"He hasn't been back since yesterday morning, when he started his shift," he whispered back, chewing on his thumbnail. "I'm worried, Ryohime-dono. It is not like Vance to be away this long."

_No, it's not_... thought Ryohime, frowning. _And considering the emotional state he was in yesterday_...

She forced herself to stop thinking about it. Their teacher was coming in - for now she just had to believe that Vance wasn't doing anything rash... and pray Herald found him quickly.

.

Nakamura Steve sat at his computer, fingers flashing across the keyboard with the speedy precision of a professional typist. Despite being one of the younger members of the Fourteenth Division, the duty of writing up their weekly report had fallen squarely on his shoulders as, clearly, the most responsible seated officer. He _technically_ shared the Lieutenant position with Herald, but no one doubted that when it came to organization, Steve was the true master.

His trip to Seireitei was scheduled for early the next morning, same as every other Saturday. He was waiting on an update from Hirama Charles, one of the relatively few members of the Special Units based in another city. Ishida Dikayumi, their Quincy "representative" from his own distant town, had already filed his report, which Steve had included in his own without having to rewrite anything.

He liked the Ishidas; they were so organized and tidy. And prompt.

The schedule of duties for the next week was practically done, barring any last minute calls in the next hour. Steve had made it clear to everyone that, if they needed a particular day or shift off, they had to tell him about it before midnight Friday. They had quickly learned he wasn't kidding. With that finished and his report stalled until Charles' came in, Steve found himself with no lieutenantly duties left to take care of.

So he switched over to the grid plan.

The Rukongai districts of Seireitei, all ninety-nine of them, laid out in map-form and organized by hundreds of Steve's lines. A pitifully small section had already been highlighted, covering most of Districts 1-4, though certain small areas in other districts had been highlighted as well. Rumors had led him there, rumors written in a neat bullet-point list in a connected document. "I heard there was a..." "Wasn't there that...?" "...hanging around..."

All had led nowhere, but Steve continued listening to them. He couldn't help it. One of those rumors might eventually lead him true, and he'd find what he was looking for.

His best friend.

His _dead_ best friend.

He had originally tried to get information from Seireitei itself. After all, Ulquiorra Cifer had been one of their most deadly opponents, and then one of their most valuable allies. A person like that shouldn't have been able to just fall off the grid after one measly death, not in Steve's opinion. But they wouldn't _tell_ him anything, even after Steve had gotten Kurosaki Taichou on his side. So Steve had taken to searching the Rukon districts himself with nothing but a description, looking for a gloomy young man with dark hair and green eyes.

A bleep indicated a new message, and Steve switched programs again reluctantly. He had _just_ started planning out his search pattern for tomorrow. But duty came first now.

The email was from Charles. Scanning it, Steve noted nothing out of the ordinary. Three Hollows spotted and taken down, the usual number of Pluses konso'ed. Same old, same old. He began retyping the report on an official form, something Charles probably should have been doing himself, but no one enforced that one. Steve liked filling out forms.

Well, most forms.

That _one_ was still open, lurking under a dozen other open windows. He really didn't want to include that one, another reason he was going to wait up until midnight to finalize the reports. He had never turned in a Missing-Persons report to Kurosaki Taichou, and he didn't want to start now.

Three days, still no sign of Vance.

It should be easy, they could track people by their reiatsu after all, but... either Vance was doing a _real_ good job at suppressing his spiritual pressure, or he wasn't in Karakura Town anymore. Everyone was out looking for him tonight and Steve was desperately hoping they would find him in time.

Steve felt he should have figured something out before now, some solution to Vance's problem. Vance, along with Yylfordt and the late Tesla, had been the only Fraccion members of the Backup Plan to actually make it through reincarnation, and as such had been considerably weaker then the Espada members. Yylfordt had adjusted quickly, rediscovered his power, and accidentally overwritten his entire human life up to that point, all of which made his transition almost infuriatingly easy. Tesla... he hadn't understood what or who he really was until a few hours before his death the previous year, in the same incident that had cost Steve his best friend.

But Vance... Vance was a confusing case. He _knew_ who he was, and who he had been. His Zanpakuto had manifested itself once and spoken with him, promising to be there when he needed it. And yet, somehow, he had never been able to realize his potential, neither the Shinigami power he inherited from his absentee father nor the Arrancar power from his past life as Ggio Vega.

He had, in reality, become the weakest member of the Fourteenth Division. They all knew it was hard for him to deal with that, but they hadn't imagined...

Steve shook his head, banishing macabre thoughts from his mind. He glanced at the clock. It was late, and his mind was wandering. He saved his documents one last time, then set to hastily finalizing his search plan for the Rukon Districts while the reports printed.

He didn't print the Missing-Persons report.


	6. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Ryohime and Steve stepped through the Senkaimon into the courtyard of the Fourteenth Division's Seireitei headquarters.

The barracks were, of course, empty and silent. Only their captain spent the week in Soul Society, and even he spent relatively little time at the barracks during those weekdays. On Saturday, however, with the visit of one of the lieutenants and Ryohime, he always came back to make them welcome.

He stood there now by the Senkaimon, wearing his captain's haori and all, but that didn't stop him from moving forward immediately to give Ryohime a big hug.

"Hey there, Dad," Ryohime said happily, hugging him back with all the strength she had. "How's it going?"

Kurosaki Ichigo let her go and stepped back a bit, giving Steve a welcoming nod. "Oh, same old. How're you, Steve?"

"Fine, thank you, Kurosaki Taichou." Steve hesitated for a moment, then corrected himself. "Actually not, but I had better give you _all_ the details for that one, so it can go with the report."

Ichigo nodded, and gestured towards his office. "Best get to it, then. We can chat after. Oh, Ryohime, someone's here to keep you company while we do the paperwork."

Ryohime was confused for a moment, as her usual Seireitei acquaintances/demi-family were captains as well, and hardly available as "keep you company" material on a casual basis, but a childish gurgle of laughter from inside gave her a flash of understanding.

"Oh! Ko-chan!"

Ichigo smiled fondly as Ryohime ran forward, sliding open the door to find a little bundle of baby joy in a blanket on one of Ichigo's couches. The tiny toddler squealed in delight at the sight of Ryohime and stretched tiny baby fingers towards her, and Ryohime immediately and gently scooped him up for some young-woman/baby cuddling.

Steve, coming in behind, rolled his eyes. What was with girls and babies? They weren't even that cute.

"We'll be in my office," Ichigo called to her, but Ryohime was already off in a fluffy, baby fantasy world and barely heard him.

"Hey there, little guy," she cooed, tickling him under the chin. "Where's Mommy, huh? Why are you hanging out with Fourteenth?"

Kuchiki Koichi gurgled happily, grabbing her finger. Ryohime giggled, going outside to sit on the wrap-around porch while she waited.

"You know, if it weren't for that whole time field business, you and I would be... only a few years apart in age," she told the babe. "I'd be about five, six years old. We'd probably have ended up growing up together, with our parents as close as they are. Training, too, if I know Shinigami at all."

Koichi let go of her finger at this and reached towards Muramasa's hilt, hopelessly out of reach over Ryohime's shoulders. When he couldn't get to it, his face puckered up and he started whining.

"Oh, stop that," Ryohime insisted, wagging a finger at him. "Muramasa is my Zanpakuto, not yours. You'll get your own eventually, but I can't let you practice with mine without parental supervision."

Just as she was speaking, a familiar figure in Shinigami robes and captain haori strode into the courtyard. Ryohime freed one hand to wave at her.

"Hi, Rukia Obasan."

"I thought you'd be here," Rukia replied, smiling fondly. "And I see Ichigo got you to take over his baby-sitting job. Did you arrive a while ago?"

"Only a few minutes, I'm sure Dad was taking care of Ko-chan until then. Is he really big enough to be away from you, though?"

Rukia sat down next to Ryohime with a sigh, reaching over to stroke her son's already-dark hair. "For a little while. We've had some disappearances on the edges of Rukongai, and I had to go help with the investigation this afternoon. Ichigo was going to be here the whole time, waiting for you guys, so he said he could watch Koichi. Oh, looks like he wants your Zanpakuto."

"Heh, yeah. I bet he's going to be an eager learner when he's old enough to start training."

Rukia was silent for a moment, and when Ryohime looked over, she noticed Rukia looked rather pained.

"What's wrong?" she asked, worried suddenly.

"We're not sure if Koichi _can _be a Shinigami, after all," Rukia replied, disappointment creeping into her tone. "Isane Taichou has discovered he has very, very low spiritual energy, even for someone of his age from Rukongai or the World of the Living. It could just be that he'll be a late bloomer, but..." she chuckled weakly. "Well, I can't help but worry."

Ryohime looked down at the little Kuchiki in her arms, her eyes wide. "No, that can't be," she muttered in disbelief. "He's got _two_ captains for parents, of course he'll be a great Shinigami."

Rukia smiled. "That's what Renji keeps saying. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. So, how are things in the World of the Living lately?"

"Complicated," Ryohime sighed, feeling like they had just turned from one awkward subject to another. "Nakamaru Fukutaichou is giving Dad the report now, but... Vance has gone missing."

.

"And you've searched Karakura thoroughly?"

Steve nodded. "Yes, Taichou. Ryohime's our best available tracker, but even she couldn't find any trace of his reiatsu. It's as if... he just vanished."

Ichigo clasped his hands on his desk, frowning thoughtfully. Then, "The timing of this... I'm not sure if you heard this while you were here last week, but we've been losing people, too. Mostly Shinigami posted around Rukongai, just vanishing without a trace."

"So you think they're connected?"

"I don't know, possibly. We haven't lost anyone else stationed in the World of the Living, but I'm sure Soi-Fon will want to send someone to check into it anyway. Her lieutenant has been heading up the Rukongai investigations."

Steve tried to contain his displeasure at that, but evidently failed. Ichigo gave him a knowing look.

"It's been over a year, you have to get over that incident."

"The Second Division killed Tesla," Steve retorted, as respectfully as his bitterness would allow. "That's not something we can just get over."

"But I trust you are going to hide that fact from whoever Soi-Fon sends to investigate, lieutenant. That's part of the job description - working alongside people you can't stand to get the job done." Ichigo straightened the pile of papers Steve had brought, then set them aside on his desk. "I'll talk with Soi-Fon later, see if she wants to pursue this. At the very least, I'll ask to have Omaeda Fukutaichou pay Karakuro Town a visit when he has the chance, see if he can pick up a trail."

Steve nodded sharply. The idea of having to host an officer from one of the original Divisions had set his nerves on edge. Before dismissing him, however, Ichigo pulled a few sheets of paper from a folder and handed them to him.

"These are new Mender schedules from Urahara-san. The Dangai is in much better shape, so they're pushing the sessions back again. Hours are the same, noon to six, but they've added a day in between each one. Please make sure everyone knows about the change."

"Yes, sir," Steve replied, taking the schedules. The Dangai, the tunnel between Soul Society Senkaimons and World of the Living Senkaimons, had been helplessly out-of-whack since the Time Stop incident, but thanks to Urahara Taichou, it seemed they would soon be back to normal operations.

He left the office after Ichigo's dismissal and found Ryohime and Kuchiki Rukia Taichou talking on the porch, so he just briefly signaled to Ryohime that the report was done and left them to it. It was a well-established routine by now, and while Ryohime caught up with her father and other Seireitei acquaintances, Steve would explore.

No one in the fifth Rukon District knew him yet, of course, but, according to people Steve had meet in the fourth district, they would still be generally friendly and open to conversation. And questions, if politely asked.

With Sonido, the trip to the target district did not take long. Steve landed in a swirl of dust at the edge of the town, his sudden appearance only mildly startling the people going about their daily lives there.

He glanced around, looking for a likely candidate for information. His eyes fell on a pair of kids sitting on barrels by the side of a nearby house, watching him with wide, but interested eyes. The young boy looked like he had never been more interested in doing anything then talking to the white-robed stranger who had magicked his way into town.

Perfect.

Steve walked over, trying to maintain a friendly, trusting air. It had once been a lot harder for him, but the years of practice in normal society had built a strong platform for his newer Arrancar-tinged sensibilities to work from.

"Hi there," he said, waving. "I'm looking for someone who might live around here."

"A lot of people live here," said the older-looking girl, sounding a bit distrustful. "And we don't talk to the weird ones."

Steve was a bit flattered that she had picked up on that so quickly.

"My friend isn't weird, he's just a bit gloomy," he said, ignoring the jibe. "He's about my age, with sort of long black hair and green eyes. Do you know anyone like that?"

"Yeah!" declared the boy happily, swinging his legs back and forth from his barrel. "Curry! He's a weird one, so Akane-chan doesn't like it when I talk to him, but he's just lonely and sickly, you know?"

The girl rounded on her younger charge and tugged at his ear. "I _told_ you not to go near him. He might go crazy one day and eat you!"

"He doesn't eat people, just rice and curry."

"Would you mind taking me to him?" Steve interrupted, and both kids looked at him for a moment. The girl was clearly about to make some excuse and dart away, but she hesitated a moment too long. The boy hopped down from his barrel and grabbed Steve's hand, tugging him along.

"Come on! He's usually just sitting under this one tree at the edge of town, reading a book. I bet he's there now. Oooh! He might be willing to play his acorn game with us! He tried to teach it to me once, but it's really complicated..."

The boy continued on, hardly taking a breath as he launched into a detailed story of his "Curry" friend and acorns. The girl followed along, looking most displeased, but Steve decided to make it up to her somehow afterwards. It wouldn't do any good to irritate folk right off the bat, especially if this lead came to naught. Steve wasn't one to place a lot of hope in such easy solutions. Besides, the boy had just about lost him at "sickly." Gloomy and lonely, maybe, but no part of Steve would have ever called James _or_ Ulquiorra sickly.

Sure enough, as they drew near the tree the little boy had mentioned, Steve saw at once it was a false lead. Even at a distance, the differences between Steve's friend and the boy's were obvious; from his figure, his posture as he hunched over his book, the feeling of his reiatsu. Still, this person certainly didn't look like he belonged in the fifth Rukon District, so Steve approached anyway. If "Curry" was a wanderer, he might have heard something from another district Steve could go on.

Souls like Ulquiorra's could not simply exist with no one noting their presence.

The boy was being held back now by Akane, so Steve went on alone. Drawing closer, he saw that the man under the tree did indeed have longish black hair, but he looked to be at _least_ a decade older then Steve. How the boy could have thought the two were 'about the same age'... simply baffling.

"Hello," he said, maintaining his friendly air. "My name is Steve. I'm looking for a friend in this district, and was wondering if you could help me."

The man smiled slightly, closing his book on a leaf to save his spot. He looked up at Steve with friendly grey-green eyes (another not-quite accuracy). "Nice to meet you, the folks here call me Curry. Although I'm afraid I won't be of much help... I hardly know anyone from the town."

"Have you recently moved here, then?" asked Steve, and Curry chuckled.

"Half a year or so, actually - the townspeople and I just have a shared fear of being too close to one another. I have the Upper Districts sickness, you see, and though it's not supposed to be contagious... well, who can be certain?"

Steve nodded, understanding the sentiment. The mysterious sickness had been rampaging through more then twenty districts, from the upper seventies to Ninety-Nine, for a few months now, with some cases in the closer, nicer districts as well. No one seemed to know what had started it, but the Fourth and Twelfth Divisions had quickly come up with ways to minimize the damage. They had yet to find a cure, so people continued to worry.

"So did you originally live in one of the upper districts?" Steve asked, sitting down on the grass to face Curry. It felt strange to stand over someone and ask questions unless he _meant_ it to be an interrogation.

"The Eighty-Third, believe it or not." Curry grimaced. "Things were... rough there. But they moved me out here as part of their research on how to cure the sickness, so here I am, and I am very thankful for it."

"I don't suppose..." Steve began, then hesitated. Even by his standards, this would be a stretch. "I don't suppose you ever heard anything about a powerful, green-eyed boy in those upper districts?"

"That's a strange question," Curry noted curiously, and as he spoke he took out a little bottle of capsules marked with the Twelfth Division's Thistle. "One doesn't usually pay much attention to the eye color of someone in a dangerous situation, and most situations in those districts are dangerous."

"His eyes are the most distinct thing about him," Steve elaborated. "Still, if you haven't heard anything, then I guess I'll just keep looking. Thank you for your time, Curry-san."

"I'm sorry I couldn't be more help."

Steve nodded to the older man, then, leaving him to his book and his medicine, turned to head back into town. One possible clue gone, but there would be plenty more before he counted this district as thoroughly searched.

Plenty more disappointment.


	7. Interlude 2

Interlude

"We will have to approach Kurosaki herself next time if Akama-kun fails. I don't trust myself to keep an even temper with any of the others."

Arrarrico Caro ran a hand through his wavy crimson hair, pondering his own statement. His First General was silent, knowing Caro well enough to know it had been a thinking-aloud statement, not a conversation starter.

Caro rose from his chair, walking over to his Wall of Windows. Dueling figures could be seen below in the arena, training for the worst case scenario. The thought of it, of outright war, left a bad taste in Caro's mouth, but he brushed the notion aside for now. There were still ways to solve this with minimal bloodshed, if Soul Society was willing.

"Trust," he murmured, watching the black-clad figures below as they flashed back and forth. They would be in basic dull red uniform, not the full, formal attire. "I have worked this long to build a foundation of trust. If I am to succeed, then I cannot act in haste and fury."

That last comment was directed, in a way, towards his First General. The man hmmed, though even Caro could not tell if his comrade meant it in agreement or disapproval.

"And yet that boy," Caro continued softly, "nearly ruined it all. I overestimated myself, my friend. Or is it underestimated? Did I, in pride, assume I had more self-control then I did, or did I, from long years of this peace, forget how the very existence of traitors burns my blood?"

"Both, I would think," said the general plainly. "You are an obnoxiously proud person, and you think of yourself as more virtuous and kindly then you actually are."

Caro chuckled, turning back from the windows. "Maybe I should let you take over contact then, if I am such a terrible person. But, no, we will keep to the plan. It has been too long in building to abandon now. I shall contact Kurosaki, or Akama-kun shall contact the So-Taichou. But if both of those attempts should fail, you'll have your chance. As it is," he said with a sigh, "I had better go see how Kurotsuchi-san is coming along... and stop him from doing anything too unethical. I swear, leave that man alone for too long, and he will have found away to disassemble his own assistant without killing him."

His general tched in disgust. "The people you are willing to associate with..."

"Sometimes," Caro said with a shake of his head and a grim smile, "you must work alongside people you despise to get the job done. Even men like him."


	8. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Ishida Dikayumi hopped to the top of an office building, his glowing bow held at the ready, and scanned the skies. Nothing. The Hollow had already disappeared, either into Hueco Mundo or down into the bustling city the Ishidas called home.

Steadying himself for a moment, Dikayumi closed his eyes and concentrated, trying to pick out the Hollow's distinct reiatsu. The dense population of the city cast a fog of interference, making it hard to pick out anything but the strongest spiritual pressures.

Unfortunately, the Hollow he was hunting was not particularly impressive. But even a very weak Hollow could devour dozens of innocent souls, so it was a matter of real urgency, and Quincy pride, that he take this monster down.

Quincy pride. A thing he had almost lost once and only recently regained.

His eyes snapped open, and Dikayumi jumped down from his perch. It had been weak and only lasted a moment in the fog, but that moment of Hollow reiatsu had given him a direction again. He ran on reishi platforms, just big enough for a foot, down towards the east.

He found the Hollow lurking behind a rundown building, probably trying to lay low. The moment it saw him running across the sky, it tried to dart away, weaving through buildings to get as much between itself and the hunter.

White reishi bolts followed it, making the slightest midair adjustments to follow the twisting path. Dikayumi had yet to master remote arrow manipulation, so many of his shots dissipated against buildings that they couldn't quite get around. A few, however, flew true, and the Hollow screeched as three Quincy arrows found their mark.

Dikayumi watched until the Hollow had fully disintegrated, then took a little pad of paper out of his breast pocket.

_Wriggler: Check_

He sometimes wondered why Soul Society had to complicate everything, giving minor Hollows names and making long lists of them and who defeated them at Seireitei. At least the bounty system had been abolished, which had been, much to his delight, aided by to the actions of Dikayumi's father, Ishida Uryu. Dikayumi had heard that it was _more_ because of Kurosaki Ichigo, who, as a Shinigami, could actually have cashed in all those bounties where a Quincy never could.

Now, however, it seemed the two were destined to work together. The Quincy had gained access to valuable information on the movements of Hollows, and the Shinigami got informed of the Hollows Dikayumi and his father destroyed.

Thankfully, Dikayumi's allies in the Fourteenth Division made this far easier for his father to bear. Where, once, Quincy Pride wouldn't have allowed him to work closely with Shinigami like this, the shared experiences of the former Arrancar (of whom Dikayumi was unfortunately a member) and Kurosaki Ichigo's promotion to captain had created a near unbreakable bond between the two factions.

Though, in all honesty, the Quincy weren't much of a faction. There were only two of them, after all.

Dikayumi let his bow vanish, and returned to the air to head back home. He would never hunt like this in broad daylight, but under the cloak of darkness the majority of humans wouldn't notice him. Reishi was invisible to most humans, and though the uniform of the Quincy was white, Dikayumi had taken to wearing a dark cloak when he traveled at night, much to his father's chagrin. That was another advantage Shinigami had over Quincy, along with numbers. They were spiritual beings, as invisible as the monsters they hunted.

There was a note from his father on the table when he got back to the house. It explained that he had an emergency at the hospital to attend to, but that earlier in the evening Herald had called, urgently asking for the Ishidas, or at least Dikayumi, to visit Karakura. Apparently they needed the aid of a tracker to hunt someone down.

Dikayumi backed-tracked, part of that request striking him as odd. Herald had said something... urgently?

If things had come to that, then it really must be important. Herald hadn't even looked urgent, as far as Dikayumi could tell, during the Seireitei invasion. He immediately headed downstairs to change for travel.

The only non-hospital building to have a Quincy bunker beneath it was the Ishida family home, but it came fully equipped. Storage rooms, a training room, and, of course, changing rooms with showers and closets full of white suits. Dikayumi went for, by Ishida standards, the bare minimum; washing up and changing clothes before heading off to stock for a potentially long trip.

There was, of course, a bunker beneath Karakura General Hospital, but Dikayumi liked to have everything he might need of a trip on his person before leaving the city. He had once been understocked in an emergency, and it might have cost lives if his father hadn't been there.

Once stocked, he wrote a quick note to explain his acknowledgment of the call for aid, and went forth once more into the night.

It would be a long run to Karakura Town, even for a Quincy.

...

Maka Urai, Shinigami, fought alone in frustrated silence, going through a familiar Zanpakuto routine over and over again.

They had passed over him again for someone less qualified. He had even gone to Ukitaki Taichou to outright ask for the assignment, and had been turned down with little more then a "you're not currently fit to become a seated officer. Sorry."

He might have been more understanding if their reasons made any sense. He was young, yes, had graduated the academy only recently, but there were plenty of examples of Shinigami being given seated positions right out of the academy - before they graduated, even! The biggest thing standing in his way, apparently, was the Upper District sickness, but he saw it as nothing but an insultingly weak excuse when that explanation came from the lips of the Captain who had been serving _despite_ a horrible, crippling illness for longer then Urai had been alive.

The young Shinigami let out a frustrated grunt and slashed his Zanpakuto against a rock, scoring a deep slice in the stone.

What the huge room had once been used for, with its sand and broken rock formations, Urai couldn't guess... unless it was for exactly what _he_ used it for. Training. It seemed perfectly suited for fighting, with sand to cushion falls and rocks to leap about on and smash apart to test the strength of attacks. No one seemed to know about it but him, though; it was always empty and undisturbed when he arrived in the evenings.

He had often found himself wondering if it was because of some terrible event that happened here once, long ago. Sometimes, as he fought mock battles against no one or sat meditating with his Zanpakuto, he'd be certain someone was watching him, or feel with some seventh sense another spirit in the room with him. His best theory was that someone very powerful who trained here long ago had left a kind of imprint of their spiritual energy on the room, an imprint that could still be felt when someone else had been expending their own spiritual energy to exhaustion. A weakened spiritual energy on one side (essentially a lowering of one's guard) might allow the phantom reiatsu to slip through to a perceptive level.

Of course, the one person he had suggested this theory to, under the guise of a hypothetical question, had laughed at him and told him not to be silly.

There couldn't be ghosts in Soul Society, _obviously_. And that's what his theory sounded like - an explanation for ghosts.

It didn't stop him from feeling it, even now. Just as he finished his swing, panting, the hair began to rise on his arms, and he could almost, _almost _feel that phantom reiatsu, as if someone was in the room with him fighting their own intense battles, but from farther away, or longer ago, then anyone should be able to sense.

He took a break from his physical training, though he could have gone on for a few more hours, and went back to a cluster of worn but solid rocks he had made his meditation area. It was an almost enclosed space, like a cave with no roof, and he had once found an old pen in the sand there. What it meant, he had no idea, but he liked the mystery of it.

In the silence as he settled down to meditate with his sword, he thought he heard something else; not a phantom sense, but something more concrete. A dull, rhythmic thudding...

The alarm gongs!

Urai leapt to his feet, re-sheathing his Zanpakuto as he ran for the ladder.

.

"Arrancar signatures, just entering the northern gate. The Eleventh Division has already been dispatched, but we are to reinforce them as soon as possible."

Urai could hardly believe it. Arrancar? He had thought that they were all dead, wiped out in the war with Aizen Sousuke. Sure, there might be the very rare natural Arrancar, but this situation didn't sound like it could possibly be that simple. Naturally-created Arrancar had never tried to enter Soul Society, not as far as the history books could tell.

"Maka," called his direct commanding officer sharply, and Urai hurried to join the rest of the squad as they ran off towards the north. However it had come about, it seemed he would be seeing his first Arrancar, and possibly fighting it.

The notion wasn't displeasing. To aid in the fight against such a dangerous foe had to help his chances, even if Ukitaki Taichou seemed determined to hold him back.

The fighting became obvious the moment they reached the rooftops. Dust and smoke was billowing into the air from the north gate, and flashes of sparks and shining metal could be clearly seen every now and then.

"Those nitwits in Eleventh are going to get themselves killed," muttered one of the other squad members to Urai as they ran. "What you wanna bet they threw themselves at the intruders the moment they saw them?"

"If you mean as opposed to scouting out the situation or waiting for reinforcements, I'm afraid you'll find no one to bet against," Urai replied cheerfully. "Being wise is not what Eleventh is known for."

"Hey, kozo, don't talk about your seniors like that," snapped another squad member from the other side. "Talking down on others isn't going to make you any friends."

"Yes, sir."

The words were bitter in Urai's throat, though he had maintained his calm. He had meant it as a teasing jest; he had witnessed other Shinigami saying far worse in their insulting of other Divisions. Still, he tried not to let it get to him. It was only to be expected that the newly recruited got treated harshly at first.

The pressure around the battle site was starting to get intense. Urai saw Shinigami from the other squads falling behind or dropping out, unable to stand the sharp heaviness of the air. Those that remained drew their Zanpakutos, preparing for whatever they might find. Urai's companions veered off to either side, and a little spark of excitement lit in Urai's heart.

The Eleventh Division truly had dived into the battle with fervor. It was a force of mainly men, with their signature, violently direct fighting style and lots of bare arms, bare chests, and bare heads. Their opponents seemed to be roughly half a dozen figures, cloaked in red with deep hoods shadowing their faces. Hollow reiatsu and Shinigami reiatsu mixed violently, yet Uria still caught the strange, refined feeling of the Arrancars' spiritual pressure. Instead of murky or dank like common Hollows, it felt like a solid shard of black stone, sharp in its roughness and firm as a wall.

Then he noticed the casualties.

Dozens of Eleventh Division Shinigami, lying prone at the very edge of the fighting. There were a few who were obviously wounded, but the rest looked like they had lost consciousness from the sheer pressure. Urai looked behind him, realizing with a start that many of his fellows from Thirteenth hadn't, as he had thought, changed direction in order to flank the enemy, but to avoid the area of densest reiatsu. Many were struggling to pull Eleventh Division fallen back from the fight, and away from the reiatsu stealing their very breath away.

Just like that, Urai found himself jumping towards a fight alongside hardly a dozen officers and veterans, instead of the full force of the Thirteenth Division. The pressure suddenly began taking his breath, too.

He let himself go to his Dark Place.

Everything narrowed, simplified. There was the fight, and then there were the worries and odds and everything else that didn't really matter. Urai held out his Zanpakuto, fixed his eyes on one single cloaked figure.

_I will defeat _you_._

"Fade! - "


	9. Interlude 3

Interlude

_"I only met Aizen Sousuke once, and he only met me once. Interesting, then, that we should affect one another as much as we have._

_"One could not live in Hueco Mundo back then and not hear of the great palace of Las Noches, and the Shinigami who had put himself up as a god over Hollows. Of course, this was so completely opposite what I believe, I could not stop myself from going to see it for myself. I will admit, I thought to kill him. Absorb his forces into my own, simplify my life a little bit._

_"And, I will admit, I am not sure I could have done it._

_"No one opposed me as I walked through his palace, and when I arrived at the throne room, I was impressed by the sight. Arrancar, Hollows, standing alongside one another at the court of one they served as a master. It was, on their part, a beautiful sight, marred only by the fact that they served an outsider._

_"I was still planning on killing this Shinigami, up until the moment the two of us finally stood face to face. We looked eye to eye and pondered, came to a mutual conclusion, and without a word I turned and walked back out._

_"He would not try to recruit me, nor any of mine. And I would wait my turn, even if it meant postponing my carefully laid plans. For as we locked eyes, we both had the same novel thought._

_"_I wonder if I would win?"


	10. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Ryohime awoke to the distinct feeling of battle. She rolled out of her blankets, snatching at Muramasa's sheath as she tried to reorient herself.

Barracks. Fourteenth Division, Seireitei location. Middle of the night. And somewhere, someone was fighting.

She went to the door, slipped on her sandals, and ran down the porch towards her father's quarters. If something was going on, the captains should be the first to know.

They met halfway between their rooms.

"Kyoraku-san just sent a messenger," Ichigo said immediately when he saw her. "The North Gate is under attack, apparently by Arrancar."

"Can I help?" Ryohime asked, and Ichigo grimaced.

"The So-Taichou actually suggested you stay here, because it's a Seireitei situation and you aren't really familiar with how the Divisions deal with things in the city. I was just going to let you know what was going on before heading off myself."

Ryohime scowled slightly. "Has that ever stopped anyone from helping allies in a battle?" she asked, and Ichigo shrugged with a grin.

"Not a Kurosaki, that's for sure. Come on, just stay close to me."

"Hai, Taichou!"

They jumped up onto a wall, the highway of Shinigami in a hurry, and dashed off towards the battle.

Ryohime began really feeling the pressure as soon as they drew close, though it wasn't enough to hinder her movement. At first. A moment later, something snapped in the air, and the pressure intensified, making Ryohime stumble from just the suddenness of it. Ichigo responded to the rise in enemy reiatsu by drawing his Zanpakuto.

"Bankai, Tensa Zangetsu!"

That nearly blew Ryohime off the roof. She took an awkward step in midair and hopped over to the next wall over, just to get away from the wind turbulence. Her father's action, however, reminded her that they were practically on top of the fight, and she drew her own sword from across her back.

"Whisper, Muramasa."

The spirit of her Zanpakuto flickered into existence next to her, looking excited. Ryohime shared his sense of anticipation, as they had both talked many times about the hypothetical battle they were only now going to be able to fight. What, _actually_, could Muramasa do with the Zanpakuto of an Arrancar?

They had never had the chance to find out before now.

"Let's go," she cried, and the two flashed after Ichigo into the final stretch before the gates.

Wounded Shinigami lay all around, but there were still a good number in the air and on the ground, battling the invaders. Four of the cloaked invaders seemed to be fighting defensively, but two (obviously the origin of the worst of the reiatsu) had released their swords, taking on their full power and Hollow forms.

"Ryohime! Be careful if you go after the other fully released one!" Ichigo called, then gestured at the more human of the two. "This one's mine."

"Hai!" she replied, grinning widely at the confirmation of trust. Then she glanced at Muramasa. "Think we can take him?"

Her Zanpakuto sized up the large, vaguely rhinoceros-like Hollow, then nodded. "Yes. His bulk will slow him down, if only a little."

"And speed is everything," muttered Ryohime, then nodded firmly. "Right. Let's do this."

.

Urai spun, his spear Zanpakuto braced against his side to steady the blow. The invader jumped backwards, flipping onto one hand in an unnecessarily elegant move before regaining his footing and charging back in, sword held for a lunge.

_A showy fighter._

There was no denying it, though; his showy fighter knew what he was doing, and had the strength and speed to pull off his unnecessary moves without compromising the effectiveness of his blows, at least against someone of Urai's level once he lost a hold on his Dark Place. Against a captain, the enemy probably would have found himself seriously pressed.

The arrival of the much-celebrated Fourteenth Division Captain brought a ray of hope into a battle that had quickly turned sour. Urai had been shocked by the power of the Arrancar, enough to make him question if anyone could defeat them without Bankai. And, for all his apparent natural skill and 'strong spirit', Urai had yet to achieve Bankai. He fought on, however, side by side with the seated officers of Eleventh and Thirteenth, simply trying to stall until reinforcements could reach them.

He hadn't expected those reinforcements to come in the form of the Fourteenth Division Captain and his Third Seat. Urai couldn't help but wonder, with the captain's arrival, what the Eleventh Division captain was doing? Shouldn't he have been on the scene by now, with the rest of his Division?

Urai battered aside his opponent's lunge with the shaft of his spear, and jumped back a pace to jab at the invader. His spear felt weightless in his hand, and the aim was true, but the invader was just too quick. He flitted to the side and closed the distance again, trying to get inside Urai's reach.

A wave of sick dizziness struck, and Urai felt the strange, yet familiar sensation of his instincts taking over. Through a blur of color, he vaguely saw a sword slicing within inches of his eyes as he fell back, then a red-cloaked figure lunged past him with a rigid air of surprise.

Then the dizziness passed, and Urai turned away from his off-balance opponent to flee to the relative safety of the nearest wall. He landed on all fours, and stayed there for a moment to collect himself, fixing his eyes on a single shingle to use as a steady point of reference.

For a moment, he found himself thinking that maybe Ukitaki Taichou had a point, then he shook his head vigorously and tried to get himself re-centered. Thankfully it had been a mild attack, and he could easily remember where he was and what he was doing. He took a deep breath, just to make sure he wasn't going to be sick, then straightened.

His opponent stood nearby, watching him. Or, so Urai assumed. With their deep, shadowed hoods, the man might have been staring cross-eyed at the moon and no one would be able to tell. Urai inclined his head somewhat, feeling he had to acknowledge the generous pause, then took a ready stance. The fit had left him a bit disoriented, but more then that, he was now confident he would finish the battle without another. They never came back to back.

Before the two could make a move, however, the huge, horned Arrancar fell from the sky, crashing into the ground between them with the Fourteenth Division Third Seat riding him down with nothing but a sword between them. The Arrancar howled, but the blade was so deeply embedded it had to be a fatal blow. Thankfully, the young woman didn't count on that alone, and swiftly withdrew her sword and delivered a second blow that separated the released Arrancar's bestial head from his shoulders.

There was a scream of rage and another red-cloaked invader flashed towards them with a whirl of cloth and glinting blades. He was intercepted by a black and white comet, and both smashed into the ground with enough force to crater. Urai spun around to see what had happened, and saw the Fourteenth Captain fighting circles around the now-defensive invader.

Something... felt familiar.

He didn't have time to pursue that thought, however, as his original opponent leapt over the fallen body of his companion and began his assault again with renewed vigor. Urai blocked and retreated, but the death of one of the invaders seemed to have enraged his opponent. There were no more useless moves or showy flips. The battle had become personal.

So Urai forced himself to focus again, forced himself into his Dark Place.

The sword and the spear. His enemy's movements, partly masked though they were by his flowing cloak. Act and react, cold analysis and attacks made without hurry or fear.

His Dark Place was Urai's secret weapon, one he never used in training. It was for moments of actual fear, when he needed to retreat inside himself to cut off that fear. Unlike many Shinigami, he didn't believe in desperation and pain as a means of enhancing one's power, but the absence of those elements. When everything was looked at as it truly was, things became much simpler, easier to calculate.

Even so, even using his secret weapon, Urai found himself losing ground.

Then a ghostly figured appeared next to him, weakly at first, but quickly solidifying into a strange-looking man Urai had never seen before. He held out a hand and whispered words Urai couldn't quite catch, almost like the words themselves were ghostly as well.

The invader stopped short, and though Urai couldn't see his face, his reiatsu seemed to weaken in that moment. Still in his Dark Place, Urai took the opportunity and lunged forward, smacking aside a belated counter and then snapping the spear back into position for an attack. For the first time that night, his lunge found its target.

It struck Urai as strange, for some reason, that even as the invader crumbled to the ground, his hood did not betray him and fall. That thought was enough to break Urai's concentration, and he slipped out of his Dark Place. In all the fighting, however, he did hear one thing with strange clarity. His enemy's dying words.

" Elect...rify, Rayo... why won't you answer... electrify, Ra...yo...?"

After a moment more of calling weakly for his Zanpakuto, the invader finally fell silent.

.

Muramasa heard, quite keenly, the accusatory screams as the Zanpakuto he had seduced felt her master die. Her screams lasted barely a moment longer then her master's life, but it seemed to Muramasa that they continued to echo for a long minute afterwards.

He had never been in the midst of inciting rebellion in a Zanpakuto when they died, not once in all his years. He had felt Rayo's pain when her Shinigami called and she couldn't respond, even to death, and it brought back memories of days Muramasa dearly wished to forget.

Long, lonely days, and then having his Shinigami die calling for him when he was helpless to answer. The worst, most bitter moment of his long life.

And he had just done it to someone else.

Ryohime landed next to him, concern written on every feature. Of course she would sense his sudden change of mood.

"What's the matter? What happened?"

He just shook his head. "They're not all Arrancar," he said, instead of answering her question. "This one was, at least in his inner world, a Shinigami."

Ryohime drew in a sharp breath. "_What_?" But... why?"

Muramasa had no answer for her.

Even as they were talking, reinforcements finally arrived. Muramasa recognized the reiatsu of Hozukimaru and Rori'iro Kujaku, and realized the captain and lieutenant of Eleventh Division had entered the fray. The last remaining invaders found themselves caught between the hammer of Eleventh Division and the anvil of a protective Kurosaki Ichigo.

"Go back," Ryohime said quietly, watching the newly inflamed battle. "I think we're done, anyway. I'm not brave enough to get in the middle of that."


	11. Interlude 4

Interlude

"General Akama has returned, a bit the worse for wear. It seems Seireitei didn't give his party the chance to declare their intentions before throwing everything they had at them."

Caro was silent for a moment, then, "How many survived?"

"Only General Akama. Apparently several captains arrived on the scene, and that's when he called the retreat. He and Kizeda made it out of the city, but Kizeda was cut down before they reached the Garganta."

Caro shook his head sadly, pouring himself a glass of wine. "Poor Akama. He must be devastated. Go ahead and take him off any active duty for now, he'll need some time to recover."

_Recover from the deaths of his entire team._

The delicate wine glass Caro had been about to take a drink from shattered into dust, as did the wine bottle that sat nearby. Several of the windows in his Wall cracked under the strain of his sudden spike of reiatsu before he managed to bring the pressure back under control. His First General quietly left the room, leaving Caro to stew.

_There was no reason at all to kill them!_

It had been a diplomatic mission; that was why Caro had sent his Shinigami General. A few low-level Arrancar, Akama Kagemaru and his personal entourage... nothing that should have been that intimidating to the leadership in Soul Society.

"I knew they were corrupt," he hissed to himself, leaning back in his chair to stare at the ceiling. This was only confirmation to him, a bloody, irritating confirmation that he was in the right. He had expected conflict, fighting, likely imprisonment and interrogation, but the Shinigami had acted even more brutally then he expected. Which, of course, only made him more determined to succeed.

He glanced at the Wall of Windows, specifically at the monitors at the top that were connected to the medical facilities. His Second General was there right now, sitting on a stool bandaging his own wounds with an expression like frozen thunder. _Of course_. Caro reminded himself to send one of the medical trainees down to tend to him as soon as possible. General Akama had never let Kurotsuchi come anywhere near him unless Caro specifically ordered him to. There was definitely tension between the two, though Akama-kun wouldn't talk about it and Kurotsuchi claimed he had no memory of the other former-Shinigami.

Still, that was a mystery Caro did not care to solve.

He went to his 'game' board and gently knocked one of the first two pieces off its circle. With it, an entire branch of possibilities and moves would have to be discarded. He would deal with that later, though. He turned and left the room, nodding to his single attendant stationed outside. The Arrancar slipped into the room to clean whenever Caro left, even when Caro really thought there wasn't anything left to clean. Still, he didn't begrudge his followers their oddities. It was what made them interesting to work with.

A long, agonized howl echoed through the halls, like the scream of a tortured animal that wanted nothing more then to die a quick death. Sounded like Kurotsuchi was having fun with his new project.

Oddities. Caro shook his head again. He was entirely surrounded by oddities.


	12. Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Dawn broke bright over Soul Society, too early for many Shinigami who had had their rest thoroughly shattered the night before. Even so, they dragged themselves out of bed, changed into their robes, and headed out to perform the everyday habits and duties of Division life.

Ryohime, though, merely turned away from the light streaming into her room and sleepily threw an arm over her face to go back to sleep.

A shadowy figure crept past the sliding door, then slowly opened it, watching carefully for any sign he had awakened her. Seeing no such signs, he tiptoed in, grinning evilly like a phantom from days long passed.

Then a loud roar shattered the peaceful morning.

"GOOD MORNING, RYOHIME!"

Ryohime bolted upright, eyes wide like a deer in headlights, then threw herself to the side to snatch up Muramasa. Ichigo couldn't hold back, he collapsed in a fit of hysterical laughter at the sight.

"I never... never realized how fun... that would actually be!" he gasped through giggles. "Your expression! Hah!"

Ryohime rubbed her eyes, blinked owlishly a few times, then stared at her father in utter bewilderment. "What just happened? What's so funny?"

"Ah, nothing, nothing," Ichigo replied, still chuckling. "I've been waiting ages for the perfect moment to do that, that's all. A little part of raising teenagers I never got to try out before now."

Ryohime never lost her bewildered look. Slowly, as if questioning whether she was actually awake or not, she replied, "I have never heard of anyone waking up their kids like that."

"You never had the chance to know your grandfather. Believe me, he was even worse. Anyway, now that you're up, get ready for breakfast. Steve wants to get back to his Rukongai exploration, but we're going to have as much of a meal together as we can, as a Division, before he goes. Otherwise, he'll be gone until it's time for you both to head back."

"Some day," Ryohime said, yawning, "we have to get everyone together for a proper dinner, in our proper dining hall. That thing is getting _no_ use."

"I'll have to get Steve or Herald on that. Are you properly awake?"

"Uh huh, don't worry. I won't fall asleep again."

Ichigo started at her suspiciously for a moment, then, apparently convinced, rose.

"Alright, then. Breakfast in fifteen minutes."

"Hai, hai," she replied sleepily. The moment her door was shut again, she flopped over wearily. "It's too early..." she groaned, then hit her pillow and sat up again. Muramasa just _had_ to remind her she wasn't supposed to go back to sleep.

Five minutes later, she walked down the porch towards their Division dining hall, gathering her unbrushed hair into a ponytail. Today's agenda was catching up with Dad, so she didn't really see any reason to fuss over her messy Kurosaki hair. In truth, she found very few good reasons to fuss with her hair, though Kai had done his best as surrogate father to make her get in the habit.

He had never been very successful.

Steve was already waiting at their usual table when she arrived, as was his habit whenever Ichigo used Captain Authority to make him have breakfast with them. On these occasions, Steve made said breakfast himself, finding it preferable to whatever boring fare some other division gave them from their leftovers. The fact was that the Fourteenth was so understaffed that Ichigo had never felt it necessary to look into getting a cook, so acquiring food was usually a bit touch-and-go.

The meal was delicious, of course, and after some friendly chitchat, Ichigo "dismissed the division", all two of them. Steve was first to stand, but before he could make for the door, Ichigo called,

"Hold on, Steve. There was a bit of paperwork that didn't arrive until this morning I need to give you. Mind stopping by my office before you leave?"

"Alright," Steve replied, though he looked a bit puzzled. Ryohime rose.

"Then can I visit Rukia Obasan and Renji Ojisan while you're talking?" she asked, and Ichigo nodded.

"Tell them I said hi."

Something about his tone made Ryohime wonder what it was all about, but also made it clear to her that this, at least, wasn't her business. It certainly didn't sound like a matter of paperwork. She caught Steve's eye as she passed him on her way to the door and suspected he had heard that curiously serious tone too.

_If it effects you, Ichigo would tell you,_ Muramasa told her, and she had to concede the point. And if it didn't, then she shouldn't worry too much about it.

.

Steve slid the office door closed, then turned to face his captain. Ichigo stood behind his desk, and though there was indeed a piece of paper on his desk that looked official, he made no move to pick it up.

"Urahara Taichou suggested you might like to stop by this morning to help him in analyzing what data they collected from the invaders," he said, and Steve frowned slightly.

"I already had something planned for this morning," he said, and Ichigo nodded as if he had fully expected that answer.

"Right, looking through Rukongai. Well, straight to the point, then. Kyoraku Sotaichou has suggested, pretty seriously, that you give up looking for Ulq- James."

Steve stiffened. "That's what this is about? With all due respect, sir, I don't think the Sotaichou has the right to make me stop. They already said it was an impossible task, and I understand that, but I am still determined to-"

"This isn't about the size of the task," Ichigo interrupted. "It's about... I don't know, your mental health. You should know as well as anyone that death is a very convoluted process, and messing with it can lead to things we can't predict. Ulquiorra died, and your friend James died after him, and now he's out there somewhere in Rukongai, and we need to _let him stay there._ A person cannot live forever, even if their spirit is reincarnated."

"I know," Steve retorted. "But he was my best friend, in _this_ life. You can't expect me to just give up on him."

"So what would you do if you did find him?" Ichigo asked, finally sitting down. He locked gazes with Steve seriously. "What would you do? Remind him who he was in past lives? Try and start again from where you left off?"

There was silence for a long moment. Steve had always assumed that that was exactly what they would do, even if they were on opposite sides of death now.

"I've searched for people too," Ichigo said after giving Steve plenty of time to fail to answer him. "In the end, Ukitaki-san sat me down and gave me a long and very sympathetic talk about death and life and reincarnation. In the end, it all boiled down to two simple things. Death effects Shinigami the same as anyone else, the breaking of bonds that cannot be fixed on our end. And, like magnets, our spirits will always find the ones we care about, even if neither of us remember the former lives and former friendships. To paraphrase an old friend, if two friends, as close as brothers, were to live seven lifetimes, they would be friends seven times."

"You're telling me to give up."

"More or less. It isn't healthy for you to spend so much time in the past, and it wouldn't be healthy for him to have his past lives forced into his current one. I'm not Ukitaki-san and I can't really get manage his level of pure sympathy, but I _do_ understand where you're coming from. Even still, I think you should stop."

"Is that an order?" Steve's tone was caught between petulant and resigned, but Ichigo did not comment on it. He shook his head.

"A suggestion. From Kyoraku-san, Ukitaki-san, and myself."

"I'll... give it some thought."

Ichigo nodded, then seemed to notice the piece of paper on his desk and handed it out to Steve. "Oh, right, this is actually important. It's the Second Division's official notice that they're sending some men to the World of the Living for investigation."

Steve nodded, taking the sheet.

"There are going to be two. Hachiro Fukutaichou has agreed to conduct a search when his duties allow. Then there's Sho Sanseki." Ichigo looked slightly more irritated as he continued. "Apparently there are some questions going around about how you guys in the World of the Living are operating without any _trained_ officers, so Soi-fon is sending him to evaluate... pretty much everything you do, if I'm reading these terms correctly."

"But we're outside the normal jurisdiction," Steve protested. "Most of us aren't even Shinigami; the Seireitei way of doing things cannot be expected to apply to us as well. Did the Sotaichou seriously agree to this?"

"Unfortunately, yes. It probably won't be as bad as it sounds right now, but just keep on like he's not there and try not to let him phase you. Likely as not, it's all a bit of posing on the part of the higher-ups, just to try and put an end to rumors and hearsay."

Steve sighed, slipping the paper into his folder. "We have to do what we have to do." He gave a little bow, then walked out.

.

He did end up finding his way to the Twelfth Division, though he had originally intended to carry on in his search of Rukongai until all the talk of Second Division poking their noses into the World of the Living put him in a sour mood. It was certainly not a mood to try and act friendly to strangers in, so Steve strolled into the place he felt most at home in in Seireitei. Urahara's lab.

The Twelfth Division captain was already there, of course, studying a Zanpakuto that had been retrieved from the invasion during the night. Steve almost wished he could have been part of the excitement, but a very strong side of him understood that _this_, the lab work after, was the more interesting side of things. This was where the secrets were revealed, and mysteries unraveled.

"Ah, so you did come!" Urahara called when he saw Steve. "Excellent. It's not nearly as much fun doing this alone."

"What have we got to work with?" asked Steve, getting right down to business. Urahara nodded towards a table of seemingly empty glass contraptions, hooked up to machines, and two more Zanpakutos. The robes and cloaks that had been retrieved were piled on another empty table, along with two ordinary face masks, like anyone might wear at a festival.

"We found residual reiatsu from the four invaders that were killed within the gates," Urahara began, "and three Zanpakutos. Two of the invaders were killed in their released form, so we don't have those, more's the pity. The first thing to note," he added, almost as an afterthought, "is that these were the Zanpakutos of Shinigami, not Arrancar. We don't know whether the one who escaped was Shinigami or Hollow, but it could be either one at this point."

"Did we get any readings off him before he escaped?"

"Nemu-chan is going back over the records from last night to see, but I don't expect we'll be able to decipher much with all the interference from the fight. Once Kurosaki-san and Madarame Taichou joined the battle, their reiatsu pretty much drowned out everyone elses'."

"Well, that just makes it more of a challenge." A gleam came to Steve's eye as he put on a pair of protective gloves.

He didn't get the chance to be challenged intellectually much anymore. Not like this.


	13. Interlude 5

Interlude

_"I did give Aizen plenty of chances. Even after he failed the first time, I took a step back and waited. That is not to say I did nothing. Of course, with his primary assault failed, his plans to take over Soul Society were second to escaping a life in a cell and eventual execution. My turn was coming, and he had left such toys behind..._

_"Besides, he had so many backup plans, he wouldn't miss one or two. And if he did, then he obviously hadn't planned very well after all. So, yes, I found and commandeered one of his bunkers, and the loyal followers who had been waiting inside on the off chance he needed them. I gave their lives purpose again, a noble goal to pursue and a master who would see them as more then tools._

_"They are so much more then that. More then pawns, playing to the king's game. That is why I use all the pieces, and both colors, for my game. Shinigami and Arrancar, the powerful and the weak... they follow me, and I will not let them down._

_"It was Aizen's casual dismissal of pawns that betrayed him. He cared nothing for them, and his betrayal eventually came back so that he eventually died at their hands. I will not suffer the same fate. And I will take the scraps he threw out, ordered to sit and do nothing as guards for a lesser prototype, and give them the drive to change the world._

_"Not destroy it. Change it."_


	14. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

"So, Ichigo tells us you've achieved bankai. When are Rukia and I going to be able to see it?"

Ryohime choked on her tea, spluttered, and began coughing violently. Her honorary uncle Renji pried her teacup out of her hand to keep it from spilling, and gave her a sturdy whack on the back until she recovered. When she had regained her composure, she gave him a bit of a sheepish look.

"Er, yes. I mean, I did tell him that, but I've never actually... used it, you know? It's really extreme..."

Renji chuckled. "It _is_ bankai, extreme is to be expected. Don't worry, I was just kidding. Byakuya would kill me if I even suggested making such a _sacred_ and _rare_ _thing_ as someone's bankai a mere spectacle... and he doesn't understanding the concept of a joke, so don't tell him I said anything."

Ryohime let out a breath in relief, and sipped gingerly at her tea again. "I hope you can see it sometime," she admitted, "but I'm just not altogether comfortable with the idea of it yet, if that makes any sense. Besides, Muramasa and I get along so well, and... I don't want to change things."

"Huh, I've never heard that as an argument against bankai, but I suppose it makes sense. Hihio Zabimaru are far more of a handful then Zabimaru, no doubt about it. Twice as much trouble, and four or five times as much immaturity..."

He glanced at Ryohime with a very impressive cocked eyebrow when she nearly spluttered into her tea again. She covered her mouth, but couldn't contain her laughter.

"What?" he asked blankly.

"Your bankai is more immature then your shikai?" she asked incredulously. Renji nodded, the essence of seriousness.

"It's not just me, either. Ask your dad. He's always saying his bankai has the temperament of a moody teenager, and his shikai, a grumpy old man." He gave her a teasing wink. "If you've never actually used your bankai, you've probably not met Muramasa's bankai side, have you?"

The blood drained from Ryohime's face. "You're kidding," she squeaked. "You have _got_ to be kidding. Muramasa isn't like that at all, it just wouldn't be him anymore! Not all bankai spirits can be the same."

"Nope, not kidding. Both your dad and I have more immature bankais then shikais, and you _are_ your father's daughter in so many ways..."

"Stop teasing the girl," came a stern reprimand from the kitchen doorway, and Ryohime immediately put down her cup and rose. Byakuya gave her a bit of an imperious nod as he swept inside.

"Has Rukia returned yet?" he asked Renji, and the latter shook his head.

"She did send a butterfly, though, to say she was going to stop by Fourth Division to get Koichi checked on again."

"Hmmm."

Byakuya sat down on one of the other cushions, poured himself a cup of tea. For a moment, the conversation stalled, then he turned slightly to fix Ryohime with a piercing gaze.

"Senbonzakura Kageyoshi spends most of his days lying under a tree, drunk to a stupor."

The statement was so unexpected that Ryohime wasn't sure if she was supposed to laugh or not, so instead she just froze, her lips halfway through a smile, her eyes wide in disbelief. Renji, on the other hand, was nearly beside himself with laughter.

.

Steve met up with Ryohime at the Senkaimon a few hours after noon to head back home. Ichigo was present to see them off as usual, but he wasn't alone this time.

A Shinigami Steve assumed was Sho Sanseki, the Second Division snoop, stood right beside the gate, wearing the traditional uniform of the ninja-assassin sub-division. While Ryohime said her goodbyes and gave her hugs to Ichigo, Steve felt it was necessary to exchange at least a few words with the Second Division officer before they left Seireitei.

Thankfully, he didn't have to initiate the conversation. The moment he stepped up to the gate, the officer gave him a short nod and said, "Nakamura Fukutaichou, I presume? Soi-fon Taichou sent me to accompany you to the World of the Living and take notes on the daily operation of the Fourteenth Division Special Units."

"Yes, I know. I got the file."

"Good. I look forward to learning how you do things, Fukutaichou."

"I'm sure you are," Steve muttered under his breath as he turned away, then added pointedly, "_Sanseki._"

They didn't say anything more until Ryohime joined them at the gate, where the Sanseki introduced himself as just that, "Nibantai Sanseki." It amused Steve that this stern assassin and Ryohime were, technically, the same rank.

The return to the World of the Living was smooth and without incident in the somewhat-repaired Dangai, and though Ryohime immediately headed for home, Steve felt the weight of responsibility insistently demanding he show the Nibantai Sanseki around a bit, or at least introduce him to their World of the Living central operations. This would probably be where the man spent his stay when he wasn't spying, as Steve knew for a fact that nobody would want to put him up at their house.

.

Ryohime had the first night patrol of the week, and so dusk found her perched on a telephone pole near the center of town, waiting. Thinking.

Kai had gotten a call from Ishida Sensei while she had been in Seireitei, and apparently Dikayumi was on his way. The news was comforting. She knew that they were supposed to be getting Hachiro Fukutaichou from the Second Division sometime soon, a tracking specialist if ever there was one, but she knew Dikayumi personally and couldn't help but trust him more. She only knew the Second Division lieutenant from the battle against Aizen in Seireitei, when the Second Division and what would become the Fourteenth had been set at each others' throats by the confusion and chaos Aizen created. She couldn't say she liked him much, even though the situation had clearly been one where she could _only_ see him as an enemy.

Second Division, in general, just hadn't been on very good terms with her division. Dikayumi, on the other hand, was a Special Unit in all but name, _and_ a family friend, besides.

Even without all that, Quincy were better then anyone at tracking reiatsu. If anyone could find Vance, it would be one of the Ishidas, Ryohime was sure of it.

A strange feeling came over her, very different from the normal feel of a normal evening, even one filled with Hollow fights. It was the sort of feeling one might get standing outside in a wide field, just before the wind picks up on the front of a storm. She tensed, scanning the sky and ground for enemies.

The sound of reality tearing interrupted the silence, and Ryohime spun towards it, drawing her Zanpakuto from the sheath in one swift movement. A small Garganta was opening nearby, just large enough for one, maybe two people. There was nothing but darkness on the other side.

_What in the world...?_

Then, slowly, a subtle pressure began creeping over Karakura. Ryohime felt a sudden urge to run, despite the seemingly unthreatening presence. From the darkness of the Garganta came a single cloaked, hooded figure, apparently unarmed.

He stopped directly outside the Garganta and let it close behind him. Ryohime watched him warily, unsure if she should run for help or charge or... just find somewhere to hide. The last of these feelings was an instinctive one - though, again, she couldn't figure out what was making her feel that way. It didn't add up.

"Good evening," said the stranger, then reached up to pull back his hood. The moonlight wasn't quite enough light to see him clearly by, but Ryohime could see the light glinting off pale bone on his cheek.

"Who are you?" she asked, tightening her grip on Muramasa's hilt. "Are you an Arrancar?"

"Yes, I am. My name is Arrarrico Caro. It's nice to meet you." He bowed politely.

"What do you want?"

"Merely to talk. You see, I have been wanting to get in touch with the head captain of Seireitei to talk over matters that would be important to both of us, but my first emissary and his men were unfortunately involved in a misunderstanding at the edge of Seireitei. He barely made it back alive."

Ryohime's eyes widened. "You sent those men?"

"Correct, again. They were all individuals I have worked with for many years. I regret that they were killed, especially when they had no intention of starting a fight, but I must also accept that I was wrong in sending Arrancar into Soul Society. It was a mistake born of naivete, underestimating the... prompt nature of the Court Guard Divisions and their defences. I mean to avoid that this time, but it seems the only way to do that would be to ask someone they already trust to serve as a messenger."

"Me?"

"Obviously."

Ryohime could hardly believe it. The situation seemed bizarre, even more so then her day-to-day life.

"But... why me?" she finally asked, frowning. "There are tons of other Shinigami out there you could have approached."

"True, but not all of them have personal relationships with four of the captains. Most other shinigami are probably little more then a name and a face to their _own_ captains, let alone others. There are other reasons, I will admit, but they are of little consequence, merely personal preference on my account."

"Okay... what's this message, then?"

"I want to meet with the head captain, face to face. What about, I'm afraid I can't say yet. It's for the head captain to hear first, and then for him to decide what he wants to do with it."

"How do I know this isn't a trick?" Ryohime asked suspiciously. "Whether your men were sent to start a fight or not, they sure got into it fast from what I heard. And they weren't holding back, two of your Arrancar used their Resurreccións and seemed thoroughly delighted to be in the middle of things."

Caro sighed, clearly disappointed. "You cannot simply trust me, then? A shame, I had hoped for more from someone who spends daily life with... hybrids."

Ryohime narrowed her eyes. "What were you about to call them?" she asked, more then a little irritated at this point. She had heard the distaste in his tone, and it was clear he had edited his original thought to leave out some colorful words.

"I am not fond of those that betray their kind," he replied, with surprising willingness. "Nor would I try and make someone, unknowingly, send one of their own into a trap. If - when I have the chance to speak with your leaders - we come to blows, it would not be by my choice."

Ryohime hesitated, torn. She had decided early on to distrusted the man, but he seemed earnest. And if what he wanted to talk about was important, should she really refuse to send his message to Kyoraku Sotaichou?

And yet that unease remained. Deep, deep down, there was a part of her that felt trapped under this man's reiatsu, strictly controlled though it was, like a mouse frozen in terror under the eyes of a hungry snake.

"No," she said, as a spur of the moment decision. "I'm sorry, but you have said nothing to convince me I can trust you. Since," she added, "we're being so honest and open with each other. _Honestly_, I have the feeling you're hiding something."

"Of course I'm hiding things," he replied. "I told you openly that I wasn't going to tell you what I wanted to talk about."

"Something else," Ryohime corrected. "Anyway, if you really want to earn the trust of me, or Soul Society, you could start by going away without incident. Then... I don't know, talk to-"

_Close your eyes!_

Ryohime reacted immediately, snapping her eyes closed and, for good measure, flashing blindly backwards several yards. Reiatsu intensified directly around herself and Caro, and the wind picked up, but if something else happened, she couldn't tell.

_What is it, Muramasa?_

_Do not open your eyes. I know this feeling well; it's akin to my first master's reiatsu when he created illusions to disorient his foes. You can't trust this Arrancar, Ryohime. I'm..._

Ryohime hesitated.

_Muramasa?_

He didn't respond. The wires she was standing on seemed to lurch without moving, like she was somehow experiencing blind vertigo, and for a split second she could hear a stranger's voice calling indecipherably from far away.

"This is sad," Caro murmured – thankfully, it sounded like he hadn't moved when Ryohime did. "Must we have a conversation in this awkward way? I'm not going to hurt you, I'm trying to _build_ trust with Seireitei."

"You shouldn't have tried... whatever it was you just did, then," Ryohime replied. _Muramasa?_

_Get out of here,_ he replied, as if nothing had happened. _If he means what he says, he won't follow, and if he tries anyway... _

_We can find Herald, and see how Caro-san likes attack dogs,_ Ryohime finished, then tensed. _Alright... though I'm going to hate flashstepping blindly._

_Just until we are well away. And don't worry, I'll warn you if you get too close to something._

Without waiting a moment longer, Ryohime turned and shunpoed away, giving herself a bit of height to avoid the worst of the buildings. For a few moments, she ran worrying that Caro was following, but then his reiatsu vanished, and she risked a peek to see where she was going. She didn't look behind, though her hair prickled with the feeling of eyes on her back.

Even so, she arrived at Herald's house without another encounter. She sat down on his roof to catch her breath, and ponder her next move.

Herald would be asleep. In an emergency, she wouldn't feel at all bad about barging into his window and making him get up and help her defend Karakura, but it seemed Caro really had let her go. So now it would be an awkward sort of business, waking up Herald just to make herself feel better.

A big, glowing wolf hopped up through the roof and sat down next to her, looking very pleased with herself. _Hey, Ryohime. I felt you coming. Starrk's being lazy, though, and says he won't get up unless it's an emergency._

"I figured as much," Ryohime said, smiling slightly. "It's not really an emergency, I don't think... not yet, at any rate. Thanks for coming up, though, Lilynette."

_Yeah, well, you're a friend now. So what's going on?_

"Some Arrancar showed up, and he gave Muramasa and I a bit of a scare. I think he must have left... I can't sense him anymore, but I don't think I'd want to face him again without someone else there." She shivered. "He felt really dangerous."

Lilynette didn't verbally respond, but she shifted her position a bit, then flopped down across Ryohime's lap.

_Scratch me behind the ears, scaredy-cat._

Her tone was friendly, though, and Ryohime complied. Since meeting Herald's lady-wolf friend, she had learned there really was a therapeutic effect to petting an animal.

Especially an animal who can give positive feedback, and tell you exactly where to scratch for maximum enjoyment.


	15. Interlude 6

Interlude

The Catacombs of the Dead, they had once been called - a gathering place of the lowliest of Hollows. They were all puny, pitiful creatures who survived solely on the air of Hueco Mundo itself, too weak to manage anything greater.

Then Caro had come, bringing the followers he had already accumulated, and began building in the most deserted of the Catacombs.

The Muerte Hold had grown since then, though Caro still had made it a rule to leave plenty of tunnels untouched for the weaker Hollows. Some thought it was posturing, their leader trying to cement his position as a benevolent master for Hollows of all sorts, though those who knew him somewhat better suspected it was one of the ways Caro made _himself_ feel more benevolent.

No one but his personal friends knew the biggest reason he had left the Catacombs largely untouched. Sometimes, when he needed to think, Caro disappeared into the cramped, dark tunnels and could not be found until he wanted to be. An inner world, outside of himself.

He had done so now, vanished into the darkness outside the Hold, leaving his Generals to manage things. Not that there was much to manage at the moment, except continued training and preparations.

He was disappointed, but not truly surprised. Even at the beginning, at the very conception of his campaign, he had known deep down that it would take nothing less then outright war with Seireitei to make them hand leadership over to him.

One more try. He would give this one attempt his all, insist on making contact with the head captain even at personal risk, but if they denied him the chance yet again... he _would_ declare war.

He was not as generous a person as he wished to be. If there was to be war, he would go into it with nothing held back.

It had only been a few hours since coming to the Catacombs, but his mind was already made up. He rose and walked back to the Hold, the lower halls

These were the rooms that had been set aside for the mad Shinigami Caro had found wandering about Hueco Mundo, exiled forever from Seireitei. Kurotsuchi Mayuri was a despicable person, but Caro had found it a little refreshing, actually, to meet a Shinigami who was totally shameless about being an evil, corrupted monster. The fact that he still somehow managed to insist he was better then Hollows only made his insanity more obvious, so Caro had kept him away from most of the others for everyones' safety.

The scientist had been helpful, though, enormously so. Without his aid, the experimental, unfinished Hogyoku Caro had found with Akama-kun and the others from Aizen's bunker might never have reached an operational level. And, since then, his experiments with Hollow upgrading and Zanpakuto modifications had been very interesting.

The screams had stopped, thankfully. Caro found Kurotsuchi in his observation room, watching Hollows, modified and non-modified, fighting and eating one another with gusto in the arena below.

"How go the projects?" Caro asked, a question he usually asked with a bare minimum of interest. Today, however, the prospects of having a few secret weapons appealed to him greatly.

He _hated_ being denied, especially when he was being sincere.

Kurotsuchi grinned, pointing out a few of the more intense brawls underway in the pit. "Even though we started with such lesser specimens, the improvements are looking promising. I have two second-generation Modifieds down there, and they are clearly superior to their opponents in every way. I think I'll have to feed them to Primary as well, though... just to see what happens!" He rubbed his pale hands together gleefully. "It regained consciousness a few hours ago, and hasn't stopped raging since. Regular Hollows have no power to satiate our little monster, so it's time to raise the stakes. The possibilities of testing my upgrades to a third generation, to a proper Adjuchas level..."

Caro was reminded why he disliked this Shinigami.

"Sounds fascinating," he said anyway, nodding. "I will look forward to seeing how he performs in combat."

"If we can find opponents to test it against," Kurotsuchi chortled. "The Hogyoku has done its work well, I don't think any of the expendables we have here are going to be good for anything except mild hunger abating."

"Throw him in the Minos Forest," Caro suggested, turning to the other side of the observation room. "There are always some other Adjuchas lurking in the lower levels, are there not? If he survives, he may yet be useful to us."

He looked down at the Hollow Kurotsuchi had been playing with, hitting with every toy he had yet designed for power upgrading. While, once, it may have passed for an Adjuchas, that could hardly be said now.

Adjuchas had reason. Kurotsuchi's "Primary" no longer had any more reason then a Gillian, but a thousand times more rage.


	16. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

It was early Monday morning, just before dawn, and the Communication Department's night shift in the Twelfth Division were on their last dregs of coffee, thinking hopefully of beds and sleep.

They weren't a large staff, and after a long night there was more talking to one another and playing cards then watching the monitors, so it took several minutes for anyone to notice that someone had hacked into the butterflies.

When someone did, he bolted upright in his chair and rolled across the floor to his station, surprised and bewildered.

"Hey, guys? What does it mean when butterflies start breaking protocol?"

"Don't be ridiculous, butterflies don't have protocol," replied one of his co-workers, not realizing there was a communication emergency underway. "They're not really part of the system, you know, they're just sort of there."

"Well, they are, actually," put in one of the other night shift staff, using his philosophical-discussion voice. "Because we use them for communication between officers and Divisions, they are a part of the system, they are simply on another layer of the system then all of us, with more simplified orders that their tiny brains can process."

"But they're not, not right now!" exclaimed the man who had spotted the abnormal butterfly behavior. "Not doing what they normally do, I mean. Unless First Division are hogging all the butterflies for some reason without sending in a large order form - which would be completely unlike Ise Fukutaichou - the butterflies are abandoning their posts without authorization. They're _all_ heading towards the First Division headquarters."

"What?!"

The shift supervisor swooped in, peering at the data behind spectacles glowing with the light from the monitor. The other staff began throwing out ideas and theories and, in one case, a suggestion that their coffee had somehow been corrupted by an experiment taking place elsewhere in the Division headquarters. The supervisor hushed them all with a swift turn of his head, and a glare over the top of his glasses.

"Alert Urahara Taichou. The emergency protocols on the entire HB system have been hacked into from an outside source, and all butterflies have been ordered to converge on some point, I assume somewhere within the First Division." He began pointing at stunned night staff and rattling off orders. "You, get Kaba Goseki down here, tell him we have to track an alien signal. You, inform Urahara Taichou of the situation, _now_. And you, clear up the cards and dice. We're about to have outside staff all over the place in a few minutes. Move, men!"

The men moved, scattering in a slight panic. Cards were whisked under crowded tables, tucked into robes, then what staff hadn't been sent to fetch people sat down at their desks with a sense of urgency, peering at their screens and typing commands.

Most of this was for show, as they were typing commands to butterflies who weren't responding.

Kaba from the tech labs, the Twelfth Division's Fifth Seat, arrived first, two pairs of glasses perched on his hawk-like nose and his expression practically ravenous. He was chuckling, low and sinister, as he pushed someone in their rolling chair away from their station, and then bent over the keyboard like a bird of prey over a carcass, fingers stabbing at the keys with the fervor of a madman.

"This is new," he muttered to himself gleefully. "A foreign power hijacking our butterflies, breaking apart the codes my predecessor put in place. My life is complete. I shall find him, and ensnare him, and bring him in... oh, the fun ahead!" He broke into full cackling again, going so far as to throw back his head and laugh madly at the ceiling, all the while his fingers typing out long streams of code in perfect order.

The night staff cleared the area around him and huddled on the other side of the room, sipping from their empty coffee cups and trying not to look as awkward as they felt.

The two staff who had been sent out as messengers returned, the first a few minutes before the other, with news. The day shift staff were on their way in, said the first, but Kaba the Fifth Seat perked up like he had been electrically shocked the moment he heard this.

"Oh, no, they don't! No one who was here when the situation began is leaving until we get to the bottom of this, and with another full shift in here it will get crowded! Send them away."

Both staffs complied. Minutes later, the second messenger returned, looking winded.

"Urahara Taichou says that he is leaving the tracing of whatever breached our systems to Kaba Goseki, and that he is going to intercept the butterfly... flock?..."

"Swarm?"

"Ah, yes, swarm. Intercept the butterfly swarm and see if he can get anything from that end."

"Let us race, then, Taichou," muttered Kaba to himself as he typed. "Race against whatever genius has stolen our butterflies."

.

The swarm converged on the First Division barracks, their soft wings making the approach nearly silent.

There were many butterflies in Seireitei, but none of the Shinigami had ever seen them all gathered in one place before now. Somehow, that swarm of purple and black seemed larger then should be possible, made up as it was by such small insects. The First Division Shinigami stared up at the cloud of butterflies in confusion and a certain degree of fear, more then a little worried about what that swarm could do to them if, indeed, they were being controlled by some maleficent force.

Some of the Shinigami drew their Zanpakutos, though in a kind of bewildered fashion. Butterflies were simply not an enemy one expected to fight.

Urahara Kisuke, however, had no such reservations; he jumped up into the swarm and return to the ground with one of the rogue butterflies firmly clasped between his fingers. The other butterflies didn't seem to notice, and his captive struggled in vain to try and get free, to follow the others.

Before he could return the butterfly to Twelfth Division, or do anything else with it, a message was transferred through the entire swarm, enough of a telepathic signal to ring in the minds of everyone within a few miles of the First Division.

_"Shinigami of the Thirteen Court Guard Divisions, and Kyoraku Shunsui, Sotaichou. My name is Arrarrico Caro. I am an Arrancar, as well as the master of those you killed without chance or trial two nights ago. I wish to speak with the Sotaichou on matters that concern all of us in a peaceful parley. I have come unarmed to the edge of the Second Rukon District, if you are willing to meet with me. I would request that you bring no more then three companions."_

Urahara hesitated, then called for one of the nearby Shinigami. "Take this butterfly to the Twelfth Division, to Kurotsuchi Fukutaichou."

As soon as the butterfly was on its way, Urahara hurried towards the First Division barracks. A messenger, one of several exiting the building, hailed him as he got close.

"The Sotaichou is calling an emergency captains meeting, convening as soon as possible."

.

Not all of the captains were present, Ichigo noticed, but those that were available had assembled quickly. Kyoraku was there, of course, to lead the meeting, and besides him there were Urahara, Soi-fon, Byakayu, Hitsugaya, and Hisagi. No one asked why the others couldn't be present, as there was a far more pressing subject to be considered.

"It's a trap," declared Soi-fon immediately. "Yoruichi-sama has already gone to scout the Rukon District in question, but it may take some time to get for a full report without use of the butterflies."

"I know it's dangerous to take an Arrancar at his word," Ichigo put in, "but he didn't sound like he wanted to fight. And even if he does, he basically invited four captains to make up the Shinigami party. I'm confident we can beat any ambush he might have set for us."

"Not necessarily. If he has prepared traps, we would be unwise to walk into it blindly trusting to strength," came Byakuya's dry response. "It sounds inviting, a peaceful parley with an unarmed opponent, but we can not rule out the possibility that our opponent has unknown powers on his side."

There was silence for a moment as they all considered, then Kyoraku sighed heavily. "I can't refuse him the chance to talk, at the least. It might be dangerous, of course, so I won't assign anyone to come with me-"

"I'll come," volunteered Ichigo immediately. Byakuya and Soi-fon glowered at him for breaking protocol. Kyoraku, though, nodded.

"Of course you will. Anyone else?"

Hitsugaya and Byakuya followed Ichigo's example, in Byakuya's case probably from some sense of duty now that it was certain _someone_ had to go. With the four going to meet with Caro decided, and with Urahara's promise that the Twelfth Division had already begun looking into how to regain control of their butterflies, the meeting quickly adjourned.

The four captains met with one of the Eighth Division "Cat Guard", (as they were called) at the edge of Seireitei. Yoruichi, since becoming Eighth Division Captain, had trained a small force in methods usually taught only in the Second Division, _just_ so she had a skilled stealth, assassination, and recon force on hand. Now they were helping scout out the Rukongai, and according to their most recent report, there was no sign of anything suspicious.

"Except," the Cat Guard added, correcting himself, "nothing we did not expect to see. There's a single Arrancar near District Two. We assume it's Caro, but he's definitely suspicious. Kept smiling at us through the trees as if he knew exactly where we were."

"We're dealing with someone more powerful then regular Hollows," Ichigo heard Hitsugaya mutter as they all Shunpoed onwards. "We'll have to get used to being felt miles off again."

They passed the little forest that served as a border between the First and Second Rukon Districts, and easily felt the presence of the Arrancar up ahead, like a beacon to pull them in. They didn't see any more of the Cat Guard, but they could feel their presence all around them, watching the area like hawks.

Then Ichigo spotted their target.

The Arrancar was dressed all in purple and red, not colors Ichigo was used to associating with Arrancar. His hood was thrown back to reveal crimson-red hair, wavy but all sleeked back away from his face. His mask fragment took the shape of two narrow jawbones (with needle-fine teeth and a single, curved fang on each side) following his own jawline from chin to curve up behind his ears.

The captains landed several yards away, and Arrarrico Caro, if he was indeed who the butterflies had suggested he was, bowed to them.

"I'm glad you've come. After the failure of my first attempts, I was concerned I would have no recourse but to storm Seireitei itself to get the chance to speak with you, Sotaichou."

His tone was unapologetically serious. Ichigo found his fingers twitching to reach over his shoulder for Zangetsu.

Kyoraku tipped his hat to the Arrancar. "Well, here I am. You're Caro, right? What did you want to talk about?"

Caro drew himself up. "I am the founder of a faction called the Dioses Muerte. It is our belief that the heart of Soul Society has been corrupted by battling politics and uncooperative leadership. This has happened because Shinigami are fortunate enough to lose nothing of their humanity, with all attached strengths and weaknesses, while Hollows are unjustly cast into darkness. And yet _Arrancar_ drag themselves out of that darkness and regain their sentience, which makes them, more then anyone else, the gods of death."

Byakuya had Senbonzakura in his hand in a heartbeat. "Are you proposing _Hollows_ could rule Seireitei better then Shinigami?"

Caro spread his empty hands, smiling in an infuriatingly smug way. "You came to a diplomatic meeting with three other armed captains to back you up, and came ready to threaten violence as soon as it suited you. I, on the other hand, came alone, unreleased, without my Zanpakuto, to try and establish a measure of trust between us."

"How do you expect to do that when you are threatening a Hollow-takeover of Seireitei?" asked Hitsugaya darkly.

"A change in leadership, not a takeover," Caro replied, still smiling. "I have no wish to disbalance the world even further, quite the opposite. A collapse of the system of death itself could destroy us all. I want only to help stabilize Soul Society in the long run, which is why I have come to the conclusion that the current system must be replaced."

"And you expect us to believe that?"

"I hope you will consider it, at the very least. But I did not come empty-handed, begging for unearned trust." Caro threw half his cloak over one shoulder, prompting Ichigo and Hitsugaya to draw their swords as well, but there was no Zanpakuto beneath. Caro unhooked a strangely familiar device from his belt and tossed it to Kyoraku.

"You should recognize that," he said. "The original Shinigami Daiko's badge. He had plans for Soul Society, you know, very disruptive ones, which I stopped for you. He wasn't the only one, either. I have stepped in several times to keep plans that could have shaken Seireitei to its foundations from ever gaining the steam to make their move, all so the Shinigami could concentrate on trying to deal with the aftermath of Aizen's war."

Ichigo frowned, recognizing the badge's design, but it wasn't his. There had been other Shinigami Daiko? He'd have to remember to ask about that later.

"A change in leadership so drastic would only serve to destabilize Seireitei," Byakuya declared. "Even if anyone could trust a Hollow to act with good intentions, your reasoning is flawed."

"And yet a change must be made," Caro retorted, an unpleasantly pointed note creeping into his voice. "The follies of Soul Society's leaders makes for a long read, Kuchiki Byakuya. Banishment and imprisonments dealt out without proof or appeal, ordered executions of innocents, even the use of the Sogyoku for an _execution_ that should never have happened, without anyone questioning it until it was nearly too late. And that is just the beginning of it.

"Shinigami are not all evil, of course, and I would give dearly to work alongside the innocent to rebuild after Aizen's rampage, but the sooner the leadership is corrected, the better for us all."

Kyoraku had stayed silent for the past several minutes, but now he spoke up, before anyone else could respond to Caro's little speech. "Well, well... this is a bit of a problem. Maybe you do have some valid points, but even so... Seireitei will never be surrendered to the control of Hollows."

Caro's eyes narrowed slightly. "You sound so final. I have details that I would like you to consider-"

"It's not going to happen, Caro."

There was a profound silence for several, long moments. Finally, Caro nodded slightly. "I see. That's very unfortunate. In that case, Sotaichou, you have forced my hand. I give you my official declaration of war, but nothing else. You shall have your butterflies back after I deliver the choice of surrender to your Shinigami, but I hold you and the other captains responsible of the corruption you have all been party to. No officer of the Thirteen Court Divisions will be given any quarter, and any captured during the war shall be held for trial by the Dioses Muerte." Caro gave the captains the stiffest possible of bows. "Good day."

Ichigo glanced at Kyoraku, but the Head Captain made no move as Caro walked away. Byakuya sheathed his Zanpakuto, eyes narrowed in displeasure.

Yoruichi flashed down next to them, watching Caro's departing back. Kyoraku nodded at her.

"Let him leave unhindered, but after that... apparently we're at war."


	17. Interlude 7

Interlude

_"I might die, I figured that out early in the planning. There are always things that cannot be planned for, and any one of them might somehow lead to my death. And if I die... that's the end of it all. _

_"There is no one who would carry on my quest. Akama-kun would take his men and try to rescue his first master, despite the odds so highly staked against him. None of the Arrancar I have found care about the goal, not really... they obey because they must. If I were to die, nothing would hold them to my cause, and they would scatter with the wind."_

_"Are you trying to make me suggest I should carry on your goals for you, Arrarrico? Fishing for promises of support isn't like you at all."_

_"Of course not, my friend, I am musing aloud. We have a long while yet to wait before I can make any move, so what else is there to do? But, no, I already know the answer to that question, there's no need to ask. You would leave, just like everyone else. Probably try to hunt down the last of your little group, see if there is anyone who remembers you. In fact, you would probably like it very much, indeed, if I died."_

_"Probably."_

_"And if you were anyone else, I would be rather irked at you for admitting it so readily. If Akama-kun weren't so servile, I probably would have gotten rid of him long ago for his hatred. But isn't that just like life? The people I have collected are the people I can work with."_

_"And the rest are fuel for your crazy Shinigami."_

_"He has to have something to do..._

_... _

"_Have you ever wondered where we would be right now if either one of us had been just a split-second slower?"_

_"Of course."_

_"I've come to the conclusion that one of us would be dead right now. A second... just a second's difference, and none of this would ever have happened."_


	18. Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

Dikayumi was greeted at the edge of Karakura Town by Asano Erina, the Fourteenth Division's resident healer. She stood on a lamppost, in Shinigami form, of course, and has obviously been waiting just for him. The moment she saw him, she broke out into a cheerful, vigorous wave.

"Hi, Ishida-kun! I'm glad you made it alright."

Dikayumi smiled, jumping to a rooftop nearby. He tried to keep off the streets, for the most part, as he didn't have the luxury of being invisible to normal people.

"I just wish this were a happier time to reunite," he said, throwing his cloak over one shoulder. "I assume there hasn't been any new news on Kimura-san's whereabouts?"

Erina shook her head sadly. "None at all, though the Second Division lieutenant just arrived with even more distressing news. Apparently some Arrancar has just declared war on Seireitei, not more then three hours ago. Hachiro Fukutaichou was originally going to be able to stay and help hunt down Vance-kun, but... it looks like he will be needed back at Seireitei soon. I'm glad you got here before he has to leave, though, I think you two working together might be able to figure something out you couldn't alone."

"I hope so," Dikayumi replied. "Come on, if the lieutenant is only here for a short time, we'd better get going."

They found the lieutenant standing on the roof of the Fourteenth Division headquarters, talking to Herald. What they were saying, Dikayumi couldn't tell, for they fell silent when he and Erina got close.

Hachiro Fukutaichou inclined his head respectfully when the two joined them. He, at least, seemed to have forgotten they had once been enemies, or at least was determined to pretend he had forgotten.

"Good morning, Ishida-san, Asano-san."

"Good morning, Hachiro Fukutaichou," Dikayumi replied, though it felt weird. He had never heard exactly what sort of drama had left the Second Division lieutenant reluctant to use his surname, but it made the little things, like talking to him, feel very awkward.

"So you haven't gotten started yet?" Erina asked, and the lieutenant shook his head.

"I've done a preliminary check, but I hadn't much hope that would turn anything up after you had all already been over the town. I was arranging things with your lieutenant, and waiting for a Gentei Kaijo."

Erina frowned. "What's that?"

The lieutenant seemed surprised they didn't know the term. "When officers of the Thirteen Divisions are sent to the World of the Living, we automatically have the majority of our power sealed to avoid causing too much unavoidable trouble. With the seal, I don't have enough strength to find such an illusive trace after the trail has grown so cold."

Dikayumi smiled slightly. "In that case, I think I'll give it a try while you wait for your release. Do we have any idea where about he was, last time anyone saw him?" he added, glancing at Herald. Herald sighed.

"As far as we can tell, Ryohime, Edward and I were the last to see him. A fight with a Hollow just to the east of the highschool. We started from there, though, right after he disappeared and nothing came up."

"Then I'll just start here, and see what happens."

The moment he began concentrating on the reiatsu around them, however, a strange, deadly-dark feeling came over him, like a wave of freezing water. He gasped and instinctively summoned his bow to counter the dread that had suddenly come upon him.

The others looked at him in confusion, a reaction that struck him as odd. Surely, they could feel that as well! Why they weren't reacting to it and preparing for battle, Dikayumi couldn't fathom.

_"... coming closer, you weakling..."_

He could feel eyes on him. A shiver ran down his spine.

"Are you alright, Ishida-kun?"

The question almost sounded far-away, but he latched onto it and shook himself out of his fright. The feeling faded, and when he tried to explain that he had sensed something sinister nearby, he couldn't find it again. Obviously the others couldn't either; they shook their heads immediately when he asked them about it.

"It's just been us," Erina said, but closed her eyes and concentrated anyway. "I don't even feel any Hollows around, except... no, I think that's Nakamura-san practicing somewhere." She looked at Dikayumi in concern. "Are you sure it wasn't... you know who?"

Dikayumi frowned. "If you mean Aaroniero, yes, I'm sure. Father helped me train until I could fully suppress that evil creature. It hasn't troubled me since the Aizen Incident."

Erina still looked concerned, but the lieutenant hmmed thoughtfully.

"Interesting timing. My release just came through. Though I highly doubt you could possibly have mistaken my reiatsu as something as sinister as your reaction would warrant... it is an interesting coincidence."

"You're pale," Erina worried, wringing her hands slightly. "Maybe you should sit down? Oh, of course! You just came from a long run, and here we are trying to get you to help us out. You're probably just worn out..."

Herald clapped Dikayumi on the shoulder encouragingly. "I'm sure that's it. Come on, Kitsune's inside, he can let you borrow a room to catch your breath. We'll just be letting the Lieutenant try his toys in the meantime. Can you take him down, Asano-chan?"

Dikayumi piped up before Erina could respond. "No need, I'm just a little fatigued, I think. Besides, I wanted to see what kind of tricks the Lieutenant has up his sleeve."

Hachiro Fukutaichou didn't seem the least bit phased by his techniques being called "toys" and "tricks". He unsheathed one of his twin daggers and knelt to touch it lightly to the ground.

"Track, Seishinkari."

Surprisingly, there didn't seem to be much of a physical change. There was a slight glow of reiatsu, and a winding pattern appeared in thin lines on the blade, but otherwise the release of the lieutenant's Zanpakuto was singularly unimpressive.

"Seishinkari allows me to track reiatsu by other senses then Shinigami usually can," he explained, closing his eyes as if to heighten said 'other senses'. "And it allows me to detect the faintest traces reiatsu leaves on everything it comes in contact with. Of course, with..." He paused, frowning in concentration, then continued after a moment. "With this many Shinigami and... Special Units around, everything in the town is saturated in the remains of your battles. Without knowing personally what Kimaru-san's reiatsu feels like, it'd be an impossible task. Even after visiting his training corner downstairs..." He trailed off, then interrupted his own thought abruptly. "... How many Hollows do you _fight_?!"

He sounded actually surprised. Herald shrugged noncommittally.

"Oh, you know. Lots."

"Well, I'm afraid I didn't count on this much interference," the lieutenant said in a slightly impressed tone. "I could tell where he had fought that last battle you were talking about, and what I believe to be the sites of battles before then, but nothing strong enough and recent enough to give us any new information."

"That can't be it, though," Erina protested. "You're a tracking expert, aren't you? It's your specialty."

"It is, yes, but having a Zanpakuto that gives me a tracking edge isn't why I am where I am." Despite his previous talk of failure, the lieutenant just sounded more determined then ever. "We've been having disappearances in Soul Society as well, disappearances I've been in charge of researching. There was something in common at every one of those sites, the reiatsu of a particular person. I have no idea who it is, but their reiatsu leaves a very distinct impression. Subtle, to a Shinigami's sixth sense, but to Seishinkari..."

"And you think the same person is responsible for Vance's disappearance?" Herald asked.

"I think it's possible." Even as he spoke, a slight smile crossed the lieutenant's lips. "Ah, I think it's more then possible. Responsible or not, they have been in Karakura Town, there is no mistaking that impression."

"Do you know where it was?" asked Dikayumi, just slightly put off that the Shinigami seemed to be getting results. He had been looking forward to trying to find Vance on his own, do his heritage proud.

Unfortunately, it seemed the lieutenant did know where 'it' was. He rose, pointing the way.

.

Ryohime awoke on Herald's roof, staring into her own eyes.

"Wakey, wakey, Hime-neechan!"

"ARGGHH!" Ryohime bolted upright, and would have bashed into her own body's forehead if she hadn't been in her Shinigami form. She scurried back, panting.

"Konekohime? What are you _doing_?!"

Her mod-soul pouted. "Kai-niichii was getting worried because you hadn't come back from night patrol, so he told me to go to school for you today. I came this way because Herald-chan is usually here to escort me like the gentleman he is, but he wasn't here and I saw you on the roof. So here I am!"

"Go to school!" Ryohime exclaimed, pointing. "And what have I told you about calling Daddy that?"

Konekohime pouted even more. "But he's not your daddy, not anymore. And he feels very left out about that, you know, you big meany. You get Ichi-chichi back and suddenly Kai-niichi isn't enough for you, and you start spending every weekend with old Shinigami Dad and leave your faithful Daddy Daiko in the lurch. It's disgraceful, I say, and just goes to show how we mod-souls are terribly mis-"

"Go. To. School," Ryohime growled. "Or I'm going to ask Lilynette to..."

"To do what?" asked Konekohime in an obnoxiously smug voice. "You can't do anything without paying the price later yourself."

"I'll spit you out and ask Lilynette to put you in Herald's new dog's food dish."

Konekohime let out a girlish scream, one Ryohime had never personally used and could hardly believe came from her own throat, and hurled herself off the roof.

"I told myself that would never happen again...!" she yelled as she high-tailed it down the street towards the school.

Ryohime sighed, feeling exhausted all over again. Konekohime had a way of draining the energy right out of Ryohime's brain.

Lilynette strolled up out of the chimney, looking a little irritated.

_Starrk's silly human dad has left a pile of dishes in the sink_, she said when Ryohime gave her a questioning look. _The absurd fellow wanted to try a new recipe and burnt rice and grease all over everything, and then went to bed after eating a sandwich. I'm going to make Starrk take me out for a walk instead of cleaning that mess up._

"I think it's nice Herald takes good care of his dad," Ryohime said, rubbing her face as she tried to wake herself up properly. Being awoken by Konekohime didn't count as anything so positive as actually waking up. "What time is it?"

_Morning. _

"Very helpful."

_Hmm... breakfast time?_

Lilynette perked up suddenly, and Ryohime wondered if the word breakfast had made her think about finding some Hollows.

_Starrk says that they've got a lead on Vance-kun, and that you might want to be there to check it out yourself._

Ryohime's eyes widened. "He's right! Can you take me to them?" Her response was a simple, self-satisfied wolfish smile.

Lilynette lead her unerringly, as was to be expected. She could get to Herald's side quicker then Ryohime could reach up to grab the hilt of her Zanpakuto, a feat that had made both Ryohime and Muramasa slightly jealous in their turn. Today, however, she went at a gentle pace so as to give Ryohime the chance to follow.

They found Herald (leaning against a wall) and the lieutenant from Second Division (kneeling to inspect the ground) in a slightly rundown alley, one Ryohime couldn't think of any significance for. Herald greeted Lilynette with a distracted scratch behind the ears, but he was clearly listening as the lieutenant explained things to Ryohime.

"We were able to track a person I believe responsible for our disappearances to this spot, and I found a slight trace of your friend's reiatsu in this spot. Nothing more, though, which is a little surprising."

"Why is that?"

"If there has been a fight here, there would be far more residual presence. As it is... I would guess your friend had been _prepared_ to fight, maybe, but nothing more. And I can't pick up any residual reiatsu anywhere else in the alley as I would if he had left in a tense state, with his reiatsu instinctively flared a little. As it is... I'm having trouble reading the scene."

"Were things different in your Seireitei cases?" Ryohime asked, but he shook his head.

"Which is why I was hoping for a different situation here. I'm inclined to believe, however, that it all ties in somehow with the Arrancar Caro, and his declaration of war."

"I would hope so," grunted Herald, crouching down to give Lilynette a more thorough petting. "I hate the idea of more then one enemy at a time."

"But there wasn't a fight," Ryohime added hopefully. "Which means Vance is probably still alive. We don't even know he's in any danger, or that Caro is in fact an enemy." As much as she wanted to believe it was as easy a solution as 'he's not in any danger', she couldn't bring herself to actually believe it. There was something dangerous about Caro. She knew there was something very, very wrong behind her best friend's disappearance.

The lieutenant looked skeptical, but didn't say anything more on the subject. He rose from the ground and sheathed his dagger Zanpakuto.

"I'm sorry I could not have been of greater help, Yamichi Fukutaichou, but I think we've found everything left to find. Now I must be getting back. Seireitei is preparing for an all-out war, but if I hear of anything in Soul Society that might shed some light on your friend's disappearance, I will make sure you find out."

"Thanks, and for your help here, Hachiro Fukutaichou. Do you need any reinforcements sent to Seireitei? I'm sure Nakamura-kun would love to be part of a war, and if he goes, his brother and Fraccion are sure to come too."

"I appreciate the offer, but I don't have any authority over the Fourteenth Division, either to command you or to allow you into a war declared on Seireitei. The call for your Special Units will come from higher up, when and if it comes at all."


	19. Interlude 8

Interlude

"I offered," Caro said to himself, examining his lines of stolen chess pieces. The pieces, black and white from a dozen different sets intermingled, represented steps in his plans. Together, they made campaigns. He took off another piece, letting it fall onto the floor to clatter amid the other discarded pieces. That piece, a black king, had been the lynch-pin several little sets of pieces converged on, and was the only step to lead to the easiest path.

That entire path was slowly dismantled, Caro taking each piece from its place and dropped it to join the rest of peaceful steps taken on his part, and rejected by the other side.

Despite his disappointment in Seireitei, he could not deny he felt a kind of smug satisfaction. Corruption was absolute in the higher powers of Soul Society, so of course they would reject his attempts at a peaceful change of leadership.

"And now, only the war remains," he murmured, looking back over his remaining game. "War, pain, death on both sides... and chaos."

The Primary was screaming again. Caro could hear it from his room, which meant everyone else would be hearing it too. It seemed appropriate, somehow, considering the news that would be seeping through the ranks even now.

War.

The troops had trained for it, known all along it was a major possibility, but half of them had been praying it wouldn't happen. It was now upon them.

There was a firm knock at the door, and one of the Arrancar under-generals walked in, nodding respectfully before giving his report.

"Kurotsuchi says the hijack has been countered, and we won't be able to send your next message via butterfly after all. He has his assistants trying to recover control over the emergency systems, but, in his words, sir... 'Urahara will have shut the whole system down, and locked it tighter then a Dangai probe.'"

"A pity," Caro sighed, turning away from his game table and walking back towards the Wall of Windows. "Thank him for his efforts, and then go prepare your troops. Tell General Halibel that we're going to be moving soon."

The under-general nodded again, and left the room.

Caro scanned the monitors, watching as the entire complex prepared for battle. Shinigami were donning their masks, throwing red cloaks over their shoulders. Arrancar were putting in a last few rounds in the training arena, their collective reiatsu making the rocks and sand whip around like a sandstorm trapped indoors. Kurotsuchi was obsessively playing with his new favourite test subject, Primary, pitting the enraged creature against every expendable he had left in his cages.

Everything he had already planned was underway. There was still that one element he hadn't planned for, and had yet to decide what to do with... but he didn't need to worry anyone else with that. He could spare some time to visit the World of the Living later, after the war had begun properly. Caro didn't particularly want to be there when it happened; he wasn't terribly fond of fighting personally.

There was no hurry, though, Caro was confident he had plenty of time to decide what to do with the so-called Fourteenth Division. It wasn't like they were going to go anywhere he couldn't find them again.

And if they did want to go to Seireitei and get mixed up in the war, that would just solve the problem of what to do with them. If they chose to fight with the Shinigami, they could die with the Shinigami.


	20. Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

Maka Urai retreated to his secret training cavern when the news they were at war reached him. Suddenly, the training he had been doing didn't quite seem adequate, for though he was certainly proud of how far he had come in the past few months, their opponents were rumored to be Arrancar, and he was no seated officer. Even though he felt he should be by now, he wasn't, and not even seated officers could easily take out an Arrancar.

So he secluded himself alone to his training room, and went as far as he could without exhausting himself.

All the Divisions were now on alert, an invasion might begin at any time. He regretted that this made it impractical to press his limits, as he needed to be ready for a fight at any moment, but after as much physical training as he thought safe, Urai sat down to meditate with his sword.

She was a jealous woman, his Zanpakuto. The moment he opened his eyes in his inner world, he found her hanging upside down right in front of his face, glaring viciously.

"You're late," she hissed, crossing her arms. "Or shall I say early? It is a whole other day, so maybe the clock resets itself? But you didn't come at all yesterday, so how am I to know _what_ time it is, eh?"

Urai sighed. "Gomen, but duty calls at any time, regardless of a Zanpakuto's schedule."

"Well, maybe this Zanpakuto is going to be busy too, regardless of a Shinigami's schedule!"

Urai nodded seriously, sitting down under her tree. "Don't let me bother you, I'll just be resting here."

She glared at him again.

"You know I don't like it when you're alone in here," she muttered. "So I can't exactly go now, can I? _You_ should leave so I can get back to my busy life."

If there had been crickets in Urai's inner world, they would have made their presence known in the silence that followed.

"Really, don't mind me," repeated Urai, reclining with his hands behind his head. "I'm just tired from training and wanted to chat, but it's not as pressing as your busy, busy schedule."

"You're trying to make me stay and talk through reverse whatever, but that's cheating, because I already can't leave you alone, and you know it," his Zanpakuto snapped, climbing back onto her branch and perching there angrily. "Little jerk. Well, I'm staying right here, but I'm not talking to you, and that's that. Humph!"

Urai nodded again and closed his eyes, relaxing completely. He wasn't entirely sure why his Zanpakuto was as difficult as she was, but he tried to live with it. If he ever intended to achieve bankai, it would take a great deal more understanding between the two of them then they were yet capable of, and he saw no way of remedying that except to spend time with her.

Even if it did always end up turning into him sitting under her tree, her sitting on her branch, and neither of them talking to one another.

Time passed slowly, though she stopped snarling at him after a few minutes. Urai let the silence stretch, knowing she would break it eventually, even if just to hum to herself. She did that often, and he liked it. She could communicate a lot more reasonably when she wasn't talking.

In the meantime, he liked the silence. It was peaceful in this inner world of his, sitting quietly under a tree, and here he could make himself forget for a time that the outside world and all it's troubles even existed.

Until the illness struck.

One moment he was relaxing in peaceful silence, the next he was in a world of blood and darkness. Pressure he couldn't stand under was pressing down all around him, and, worse still, _inside_ of him, as if there were a black hole deep in his soul. Rain fell all around him, but it felt thick against his skin, like blood.

He should have been terrified, but everything was deadened under that pressure. Even in the midst of the fit he knew that if he woke up, he would be paralyzed with fear, but living through it was strangely devoid of panic. Even the black blood on his bare skin didn't seem the least bit disturbing.

Then she dragged him out of it, smacking him hard on the head with a coconut.

"Self-absorbed idiot," she muttered, though Urai could barely hear her over the pounding of his heart. "One of these days you're going to get yourself dragged into oblivion and kill us both."

Urai shuddered, hugging his knees. Oblivion indeed. That's what he saw beyond the rain - oblivion.

.

Ichigo stood on the tip of Sokyoku Hill, waiting for he knew not what.

There was a tangible tension in the air - a thousand Shinigami on edge could create an atmosphere like nothing else really could. The declaration of war had shaken everyone, and even the captains were tense. If Seireitei had been at full strength when Caro made his threats, things might be different, but the divisions had yet to recover from the last few decades.

An over-population of spirits in Rukongai, an over-abundance of Hollows in the World of the Living, and now a shortage of Shinigami after Aizen and Shiro wrecked havoc the year before. All the divisions had been forced to take on an unprecedented number of raw recruits just to fill the ranks, and no one more then the Fourth Division. In a war against Arrancar, Seireitei would need their healers... and the majority of their healers were barely out of the academy, with no combat experience or real tests of reacting to life or death situations.

So Seireitei prepared in a setting of heightened tension, many with the added nervousness that came on the edge of one's first real battle.

The lack of butterflies for communication was just one more problem to add to the list, and one weighing heavily on Ichigo's mind as he watched messengers running back and forth below. As short-handed as they were, sparing men just to take messages from officer to troops, or captains to officers, would be a costly necessity. Thankfully, the Second Division had suffered the least during the Incident the previous year, and among their ranks were the swiftest Shinigami in Seireitei.

As if Ichigo's thoughts had summoned him, one of the masked assassins from Second flashed up onto the rock behind him. The man knelt respectfully, but swiftly, before giving his message.

"Patrols along the upper Rukon Districts have discovered the presence of Arrancar in the area, but were unable to investigate further due to the violent souls living there. Kyoraku Sotaichou has called the captains to assemble for a strategy meeting."

Ichigo nodded. "Thank you." As the man shunpo'ed away, Ichigo spared a moment to look out towards the Rukongai, beyond the walls of Seireitei.

The enemy was gathering, it seemed, in Soul Society itself.

.

The first assault came, even as the captains discussed the possibility of a first assault, in the form of thousands of Rukongai residents from the wild, upper districts.

The captains felt the fighting immediately after it began, and with a few swift words to close the meeting, they dispersed to lead their divisions to the defence of the gate guards. Ichigo, with no division to lead, went straight to where the fighting seemed most intense.

The spirits living in the upper Rukon districts had always been violent, often unbelievably so, but never before had they launched any kind of organized assault. They would as soon tear someone's throat out as sit down and try to talk... and usually talking descended into throat-tearing before too long, so any organization at all was nigh unto impossible. Ichigo knew there had to be an outside presence directing this assault, and there was no doubt in his mind as to whose presence that was.

_Coward. Sending outsiders to do his fighting for him? Che._

Ichigo drew Zangetsu, eyes narrowing. "Che" indeed. _I wish we could have just fought him then and there, when he decided to go to war. This is an unnecessary fight._

_But fun, I hope,_ snickered his inner voice of blood-thirsty insanity, otherwise known as Shiro. _It's been almost a year since our last decent fight_.

_I hope we never have to fight another person like Aizen again,_ Ichigo retorted. It still deeply disturbed him when he thought about having been caught in the illusions of Kyoka Suigetsu; fighting his own allies, possibly his own daughter, without even knowing it.

_I was talking about _our last decent fight_, King. You, me, a whole city full of collateral damage. Sure, it was a stupid move on my part brought on by that free-loader Muramasa, and if I won we'd both probably be dead, but... there was no denying, it was fun. _

"No, it wasn't," muttered Ichigo, landing for a moment on top of the gate so he could examine the battle below. He still had the scars from the fight Shiro was talking about, the worst (to him) being a ragged white scar on his chest and back from where Shiro had run him through.

The fighting was right at the gate itself, the Shinigami on duty having been forced into a tight half-circle around the gate by the horde of Rukon citizens. These weren't weak, passive spirits like those from the majority of the districts, but wild, powerful fighters hardened by an existence of near-endless conflict. They came from the environment that had raised the previous Kenpachi, and they fought like it. Even though they lacked the training and techniques the Shinigami all had access to, their numbers more then made up for it against the gate guards.

The Shinigami below were hard-pressed, so Ichigo didn't hesitate for more then a moment. Just long enough to say, in a voice loud enough for those below to hear (and hopefully start getting nervous), "Ban-KAI!"

The reiatsu, wind, and dust forced many of the combatants back, and some fell gasping to their knees, unable to stand against the captain-level pressure. Ichigo slashed Tensa Zangetsu through the air, blasting away the obscuring cloud of dust, and jumped down in front of the gate to face those rebels that remained. The Shinigami rallied behind him... or, rather, took shelter behind him, dragging their wounded back and out of the way before stopping to catch their breath.

With a roar, several of the rebels charged at Ichigo, brandishing clubs and wicked, jagged swords. Ichigo meet them head-on, dancing through their slow movements with speed they couldn't possibly match, smacking away weapons and knocking opponents back into their own allies, or just knocking them out. He fought mostly one-handed, not even bringing his Zanpakuto into the battle.

The rebels were obviously cowed, for though there were always several enraged spirits charging Ichigo or the gates, the majority of them were now hesitating. They hadn't been counting on a Captain showing up so early in their campaign, it seemed.

There was a rustling in the crowd, and the pressure in the area increased again. From among the ragged Rukongai citizens appeared a red-cloaked figure, a drawn Zanpakuto in hand.

"In the name of the Dioses Muerte, fight."

Ichigo took his sword in both hands, tensing. Other red-cloaked figures, some with their hoods pushed back, many with their hoods up, were appearing from among the Rukongai rebels, all with drawn swords. Arrancar, Shinigami... he could sense both, and even something else he couldn't quite place.

"In the name of _freedom_, fight!" called the foremost figure again, and the whole horde surged forward once again, apparently driven on by the appearance of leaders among them. Ichigo jumped forward to meet them, but the sheer number of attackers made it hard to defeat them nicely like he had before. He began to cut the Rukongai rebels down, trying to shatter the wall of enemies that would be hitting the already worn-out Shinigami guards at the gate.

"Getsugatensho!"

His attack smashed through the front lines of the attackers, rending a chasm in the ground between the majority of the horde and the gates. The rebels teetered at the edge, some falling, others jumping and just barely making it to the other side, having to scramble up by the tips of their fingers. The red-cloaks hardly seemed to notice, taking the new obstacle in their stride and jumping easily across. Ichigo turned, meaning to get back in-between the red-cloaks and the gates, but the press was closing around him again.

At that moment, though, he felt a familiar reiatsu nearby and smiled, abandoning his attempts to reach the gates again. Moments later, even as the gate guards tensed for the clash, a wave of new Shinigami flashed over the walls. The bulk of three divisions, led by Captains Hisagi, Yoruichi, and Kuchiki Byakuya.

The sound as the two forces clashed was nearly deafening, a roar of metal clanging, Kido chants and blasts, and people screaming. Mere moments in, Ichigo found himself facing one of Caro's red-cloaked minions, though the man had flung back his hood to reveal narrow, suspicious eyes and black hair. He was grinning in a way Ichigo knew quite well, the grin of a destruction-loving madman.

"It will be a pleasure to fight you, captain," said the stranger with dark anticipation. "To fight, and to claim your hiori for my own!"


	21. Interlude 9

Interlude

A brief background history and explanation of the Upper Districts Sickness, as given by Urahara Kisuke to Kurosaki Ichigo.

_"The upper Rukon districts have always been filled with the worst of spirits that come through Soul Society, but never before have we had so many at once. New districts had to be created just to hold them, and now, with a serious decrease in man-power to police them... we needed some kind of solution before the violence overturned the Rukongai._

_"Ah, let me go back a bit. You know, of course, that the Rukongai serves to drain away memory, as a prerequisite to reincarnation. Without Hollows, it would work like a charm, but as it is the Rukongai can't destroy the memories of formerly-Hollow spirits fast enough. Those unfortunate fellows are usually left mentally traumatized by the event - even if they were just eaten by a Hollow and never became a dominating factor, the memories sink in at a very primal level. This leaves a lot of them with violent tendencies, or outright insanity. Historically, these Hollow-influenced spirits are kept in the highest numbered districts, and away from others, but with all the Adjuchas and Hollow deaths during the Arrancar War, we got flooded with more spirits then the traditional districts could handle. Hence, the creation of the Ninetieth through Ninety-Ninth districts. _

_"Now, though, we can't keep watch over them all, and we can't just wait for the Rukongai to naturally tame them all. So Kyoraku Sotaichou asked me to come up with a solution, which I did._

_"Introduce a fake sickness, then counter it with a special medicine to secretly and forcibly erase memories. We say the sickness itself causes memory loss, and our madmen slowly begin to solve our problems themselves, never suspecting the truth._

_"I know what you're going to say, probably something about ethics and 'it's our job to protect those spirits,' but that's what we're doing. The lives they lived before were over the moment they were sent to Soul Society, one way or another. Right now, we're simply making the afterlife as safe for as many people as possible."_

A quick historical note on the Walls of Seireitei, given by First Division Lieutenant Ise Nanao during a lecture at the Shino Academy.

_"Seireitei was once protected by a mineral called Sekkiseki, which made up the original walls, elements of the gates, and certain buildings within Seireitei. The Shinigami Women's Association was responsible for the mineral's eventual banning in use for buildings due to the weakening effect it has on those within, and for most prisoners this is a sentence akin to mental torture. Later, we - I mean the Shinigami Women's Association - were able to bring about the replacing of the walls, after the Rukongai Attacks and the failure of Shinigami to respond due to communication errors with the gate guardians. Free travel from Seireitei to the Rukongai was guaranteed afterwards, making safe-guarding the over-crowded Rukongai far easier for all Shinigami involved."_


	22. Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

Dikayumi awoke with a start, his bow already forming in his hand in reaction to what he knew was certainly a Hollow attack.

It took several moments of panicked looking around for him to realize there _was_ no Hollow threat.

He was in one of the back rooms in the Fourteenth Division headquarters, no enemy in sight. Erina had insisted he rest after his run to Karakura and his little episode on the roof, but he hadn't expected to actually fall asleep. He hadn't realized just how tired he was.

Kitsune poked his head in the door, smiling when he saw Dikayumi awake.

"Ah, you're awake! I was just making myself a cup of tea, and wondered if you'd want one too. Kitty-kun and his buddy aren't all that interested in tea until after they're done training... and they won't be for hours."

Dikayumi yawned, dismissing his bow. "Kit- you mean Nakamaru-san and Yylfordt-san? They're training right now?"

"Yep, they went down an hour or so ago. Right after the lieutenant left. So, tea?"

"Yes, please." Dikayumi loved tea, even though Kitsune's tended to be a bit bland. The Arrancar mod-soul was great with computers, but tea was a little outside his area of expertise.

He went down to the training room after waking up fully, though he knew that (with Edward and Yylfordt training) there would be no one free to spar with. The former Espada and his not-so-former Fraccion just loved to fight.

Still, the chunks of smashed rock they threw up in their violence made for fantastic target practice, so he stood on the other side of the massive underground chamber and began practicing his sniping.

At first.

A creeping chill came over Dikayumi and he shivered, once again suddenly feeling like there were evil eyes fixed on him, watching his every movement. He glanced towards the others were still hard at it, but it didn't feel right to be either of them.

Darkness began to obscure the edges of his vision. He blinked, then again, only to realize it wasn't his eyes playing tricks on him. A black shadow wrapped its arms around his neck from behind, and the cold chill he had felt was suddenly breathing in his ear.

_You're mine, Quincy._

Dikayumi jumped away, his heart racing, but when he turned, bow raised, to face whatever it was that had whispered to him, he saw nothing.

The deep sense of unease remained, however, and he could _feel_ that black shadow laughing at him.

Then the chill was back, creeping up his spine, making his hair stand on end.

He whirled, firing instinctively, but there was nothing there. His arrow hit a random rock and sent sharp shards flying. Dikayumi couldn't shake the feeling this time, though, and he glanced over his shoulder, checked the ceiling, flashed around to check the nearby rock formations... anywhere the shadow might be lurking. Nothing.

And yet...

_Where do you think you're looking? I'm right here._

And there it was, right in front of Dikayumi's face, staring at him with dead white eyes.

Dikayumi shot it in the face, just as a reflex, but the shadowy black creature just laughed again, baring white teeth at him before vanishing like smoke. The laugh lingered, however, and didn't dissipate like Dikayumi felt it should. It kept going, constantly, maddeningly, unwavering.

_I'm always right here!_

.

Steve jumped off a building, Zanpakuto held high, and dropped silently onto the unsuspecting Hollow below. The creature had just enough time to let out a surprised yowl before its mask was cleaved in two, consigning it once more to death.

"You're surprisingly moderate and efficient with your strikes," Sanseki declared, alighting on a telephone pole nearby. Steve huffed.

"Why should I not be? It's only a Hollow. One strike should be enough for anyone who knows what they're doing."

Sanseki chuckled. "Don't take this the wrong way, but the rumors around Seireitei are that your past lives have more of an influence on you then otherwise."

"Meaning, of course, that the members of the Fourteenth Division are all violent brutes," Steve suggested dryly, though he wasn't actually very insulted by the notion. "Don't take this the wrong way, but your rumor-starters in Seireitei are ignorant, and don't look very carefully at the facts. Would we have allied ourselves with Seireitei if we were overpowered by the memories of our past lives as Arrancar?"

"Obviously not, nor would the captains have allowed you to. Still, that was a very smooth kill, and you overestimate Shinigami in general if you think everyone could have done so well. Many in Second Division could have caught the Hollow unawares, and all officers worthy of the title could destroy a Hollow in a single strike given the chance, but they've had training. You have not." He almost sounded impressed.

"I am an officer, though, and a rank above you, I might add," Steve replied, smoothly sheathing his Zanpakuto. "You needn't sound so surprised-"

At that moment, a deep dread filled the air. Steve's heart skipped, and his Zanpakuto was back in hand in an instant as he spun to find the enemy he was certain had just appeared.

The sky remained empty, though Sanseki was looking around desperately as well.

"What is that?" he asked in concern. "It feels like a Hollow, but that's too powerful to be an ordinary one..."

Steve scowled. "It isn't ordinary. That's an Arrancar."

.

Ryohime sensed the Arrancars' arrival from the clinic. She had been helping Kai clean out a room, but he felt the reiatsu as well and gave her a quick nod.

"I'll can finish on my own. Do you need me to call anyone to back you up?"

Ryohime shook her head, already stripping off her plastic gloves.

"I think everyone can feel that, and Kitsune's should still be on duty at this hour. He'll contact anyone who needs contacting."

Kai nodded. "Use the storage room."

The clinic storage room had, since she became the primary Shinigami in Karakura, become a stashing spot for Ryohime's mortal body when she went off on Hollow-slaying missions. It had seen far less use in the last year now that she had so many allies to share the work-load with, but it still came in handy in the rare occasion it was needed. Ryohime darted inside, locking the door behind her, then jumped out the skylight as soon as she was in Shinigami form.

The Arrancar seemed to have no intention of hiding their reiatsu, and as she got closer, Ryohime realized that she recognized one of them from the evening before. Suddenly, she felt less confident in confronting them by herself, even if the others should be on their way.

Arrarrico Caro. According to Herald, the lieutenant from the Second Division had named Arrarrico Caro as the self-proclaimed leader of the group now at war with Seireitei. Ryohime hadn't liked the Arrancar when she meet him, and she liked him even less now. He unnerved her almost as much as her father's Hollow had, andShiro had the advantage of years of childhood nightmares and an eerie resemblance to her father helping him in that regard.

She sensed Erina a few blocks away and adjusted her run to intersect. Erina seemed to have the same idea, and the two Shinigami Daikos meet halfway.

"We weren't expecting any Arrancar, were we?" Erina asked, and Ryohime grimaced.

"Maybe we should have been. I think I recognize one of them, the leader that declared war on Seireitei early this morning. I guess it was too much to think he'd ignore those of us in the World of the Living."

"So this is going to be a fight," Erina concluded, her expression becoming more serious. "I hope the guys are on their way."

There was nothing to worry about on that front. By the time the two young women got close enough to see the Garganta above the city, they could also sense the presence of two of their allies, and see them standing in the air to face the Arrancar.

"Herald, Steve, and us," Ryohime muttered to herself, trying to weigh the odds. Muramasa's warning from her last encounter with Caro made her very nervous, and even though she believed Herald and Steve were both worthy of their titles as Lieutenants of the Fourteenth Division... she couldn't shake the notion that they were going to have a tough time of it if the encounter came to fighting.

"I don't like the look of this," Herald muttered to them when Ryohime and Erina hopped up to join them. Ryohime nodded, examining for the first time the force arrayed against them.

Caro stood out in front, his dark hood thrown back, examining the members of the Fourteenth Division with a kind of interested arrogance. Beside and behind him stood a small force of similarly-clad figures – enough to outnumber the assembled Special Units, but only barely.

Three had their hoods up, and two of those wore regular masks, not Hollow masks, to hide their faces. The fourth, a Shinigami by the feel of it, wore no cloak or hood, and for a split second Ryohime almost thought he looked handsome with his long, tussled blue hair and golden eyes. It was the eyes, though, that made her change her mind about him immediately; they had a crazed, evil look to them that made her skin crawl. The fifth member of Caro's entourage was neither Shinigami nor Arrancar, but a Hollow, the very sight of which was enough to make Erina let out a little gasp of horror.

They had all seen Hollows, but never one like this. It looked like what it was – the result of experiments of the cruelest kind. From its size, humanoid figure, and upright posture, it might have been a Vasto Lorde, but there was no sanity left in the pale yellow eyes just barely visible through its mask. Crystals and glass canisters filled with strange liquids and substances were grafted onto the Hollow's sewn-together body, wires were visibly running all over just beneath its skin, and part of its mask had clearly been torn off and merged unnaturally with pieces of a completely different Hollow's mask.

It lurked behind Caro and the blue-haired Shinigami with furiously gleaming eyes, snarling like a mad dog, but the moment the Shinigami glanced back it shrank away with a whimper. Its reiatsu was the easiest to sense, huge and untamed while the others were mostly well-controlled, but it felt _warped_. Like someone or something had taken whatever the Hollow was originally and shredded it, then twisted the ruined remnant into a form that _almost_ resembled something living.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Steve muttered in agreement to Herald's original statement. "Very, very bad feeling."

Caro finally made a move, stepping forward to say, "Members of the Fourteenth Division. You should have heard by now that the Dioses Muerte and I have gone to war against Seireitei. You have, unfortunately, taken sides with them in the past, but between you and us there is still a chance of peace."

He glanced at Ryohime. "Kurosaki Ryohime, I have had no quarrel with you or your father. I would have preferred for him to refuse the captaincy, but he didn't, and that has locked us on opposite sides of this war. I would not ask you to betray your own kind and your father - though we would have welcomed the Kurosakis into the Dioses Muerte - but you may still take a neutral stand. Fight neither for us nor against us, and I would be happy to offer you a place in the new order of Soul Society when all is finished."

"When my father calls for me," Ryohime replied fiercely, "I'll be there to fight whoever he needs me to fight."

"I expected nothing less, though it is a shame. Still, loyalty to one's blood must, of course, come first." He then turned to look at Herald, Steve, and Erina. "You three, however, along with your absent friends and family members within the Fourteenth Division, do not have loyalty to Seireitei to hide behind. Your power stems from the lives you devoured as Hollows, and refined as Arrancar. Shinigami are your natural enemies and other Arrancar, your natural allies. Join me and return to the side you should have been on from the beginning."

"You're deluded," Herald replied. "We can have loyalties in this life too, and we agreed to work with Seireitei this time around. We're not going to betray them now."

The evil-eyed Shinigami smiled a very unnerving smile, and raised a hand with fingers posed for a snap. The mad Hollow tensed visibly, growled deep in its throat and narrowed its wild eyes.

"Hold," Caro interrupted, shooting his Shinigami minion a displeased glance. Then he turned back to the gathered Special Units. "You may be a lieutenant, Yamichi Herald, but do you have the authority to speak for your absent men as well?"

"I would say so," Steve interrupted. "I and my family stand with Kurosaki Taichou, Dikayumi would _never_ work with a Hollow, and I doubt even Nnoitra, if Charles let him decide, would willing work under _you_."

"And Vance would sooner burn his manga collection then betray Ryohime and I," Herald finished, a bit of fierce irritation in his tone. "So take your talk of loyalty and betrayal elsewhere. The Fourteenth Division Special Units are loyal to Seireitei."

Caro nodded, though this time there was no understanding smile. Only malice and anger. "Very well. Then I shall deal with you appropriately, as traitors. Kurotsuchi, do what you want with them. Kurosaki Ryohime, if you want to live, leave Karakura Town. As of now, you stand with the doomed."

He turned and walked back towards his Garganta, gesturing with one hand to his men. The three cloaked figures drew their Zanpakutos as one, and the evil-eyed Shinigami, the man Caro referred to as Kurotsuchi, grinned at them with cruel glee.

"Go on, then, beast," he sneered, snapping his fingers sharply. "Let's see how well I created you."

The Hollow roared and charged with astonishing speed. Ryohime jumped backwards to gain a bit of time and drew Muramasa, debating whether or not to go straight to Shikai.

The Hollow was faster then she had anticipated, though, and before she could even get Muramasa into a ready-stance, it was in front of her. Its long-nailed fingers slashed towards her like a knife and she stumbled in her surprised haste, barely managing to get an arm up in time to take the blow.

Her cry, as the claw-like nails racked her forearm, was her salvation. Quicker then thought at Herald's call, Lilynette appeared out of thin air and pounced on the Hollow, biting and tearing at it with the fury of a mother wolf defending her cubs. Ryohime caught herself and tore the fluttering sleeve away from her bloody arm.

"Whisper, Muramasa!"

The three hooded figures had already engaged the others, one each for Erina, Herald, and Steve. Kurotsuchi hung back, though he seemed to have a Zanpakuto, and instead put two fingers to his lips and let out a piercing whistle. The Hollow screeched in pain, whether from Lilynette's attacks or from the whistle Ryohime couldn't tell, and a golden cero began to form in one clawed hand.

Muramasa alighted next to her, taking in the situation with his usual stern glance. Ryohime nodded towards where Erina was fighting. "Help her; she's a supporter, not a frontal fighter."

"Understood," he replied, then shifted through the air to Erina's side. Ryohime refocused on Lilynette and the mad Hollow, trying to figure out how to get involved and help without being a severe hindrance. She had the uneasy feeling there was something... worse coming.

_Where is everyone else?!_


	23. Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

Yylfordt felt the change in the air, but wasn't at first sure what it is. There wasn't much time to think about it - his master was in mid-pounce with claws mere heartbeats away from Yylfordt's throat.

Edward, however, seemed to sense it as well, and when Yylfordt swerved to avoid the attack, he made no move to follow up on it. He skidded to a stop on all fours in the loose sand, the fur on his spine standing up on end. They had both released their Zanpakutos for an all-out spar, and in Edward's case this meant he was now in his black-furred, blue-streaked feline form, complete with his old cat instincts. He sniffed the air, tail twitching.

"A new enemy?" Yylfordt wondered aloud, coiling his whip around one arm. "But it feels familiar..."

Edward sealed his Resurreccion. "That's Dikayumi," he said, puzzled. "But it also doesn't feel like like him, exactly... _or_ Aaroniero for that matter."

The two shared a glance, then flashed off to see what was going on.

They found Dikayumi thrashing alone on the sand, clearly in the middle of some inward struggle. His eyes were wide open but unseeing, and blackness crept slowly but surely across them.

"I thought he said he defeated Aaroniero," Edward groaned, turning to Yylfordt. "Watch him, I'm going to go get Kitsune. We may need his Kido if Dikayumi loses. And try not to kill him if he attacks while I'm gone!"

.

Edward was baffled.

According to reports his brother had gotten from Dikayumi a year ago, their Quincy ally was supposed to have destroyed the incarnation of his Hollow past (the two voices that had been driving him crazy before the Seireitei Incident) with the help of his father. They had all assumed that was the end of it on his part, like it had been the end for Charles. Then again, everyone fought their battles differently. Yylfordt had immediately and soundly defeated his human side, quite accidentally too, while for Edward, there had been no power struggle at _all_ between himself and his inner Grimmjow. Maybe Dikayumi had mistaken the disappearance of the voices of Aaroniero as the defeat of Aaroniero, and now the Ninth Espada was trying to take control again while he was unsuspecting.

There wasn't much time for conjecture, though. Edward remembered clearly what Aaroniero was like in the old days, and there had been little love lost between the Sixth and the Ninth Espada. And now, Edward's human side was balking at the idea of letting a comrade-in-arms fall, even to an enemy inside Dikayumi's own soul.

He hopped up through the trapdoor, into the main body of the store-turned-headquarters. He could sense Kitsune in the back rooms, probably tidying up the recently-used guest bedroom.

Edward nearly smashed the door when he flung it open.

"Kitsune! Dikayumi seems to be fighting with his not-dead inner Hollow, or else something even weirder is going on. I think we need you."

Kitsune's little red eyes popped open in surprise. "What? But I thought Megane-kun wasn't in danger of that anymore."

Edward shrugged, grabbing the little mod-soul and running back towards the trapdoor before Kitsune could begin to protest. "Yep, we all thought. Down we go!"

"This feels serious," Kitsune agreed as they got closer, frowning thoughtfully. "Yep, it certainly seems Megane-kun is in trouble. I don't see why I'm down here, though, I can't really interfere with an inner world battle. Want me to call Ryo-chan? Her Zanpakuto might be able to get inside his head and straighten things out."

"Let's call that Plan B," Edward grunted, setting Kitsune down at a safe distance where rogue reiatsu wouldn't crush him. "I think it's best not to interfere in self-battles unless we have to. I wanted you on-hand to restrain him, though, if things take a turn for the worse. Neither of us," he gestured at himself and Yylfordt, "can use Bakudo, and Erina isn't handy."

"'On-hand,' 'handy.'" Kitsune hmmed to himself. "I sound very convenient now; that's nice." He perked up, and Edward felt a new reiatsu appearing somewhere above Karakura. "My, my, this is bad timing."

Edward tsked, annoyed. "Do you think you and Yylfordt would be able to handle things down here in a worst-case scenario?"

Kitsune considered briefly. "No, not really. It's possible we could, of course, maybe even likely, but I'm not confident. You guys just training makes me light-headed sometimes, and if Megane-kun goes full Hollow-takeover on us, there would be a significantly greater pressure down here, hardly the best circumstances for concentrating on a Bakudo barrier."

Edward scratched his ear, thinking hard. He could already sense the others heading off towards the strange new presence above Karakura, including his brother. He couldn't tell at this distance (and through the dampening barriers built into the walls of the training room to help hide reiatsu) the numbers or any specifics of the newcomers, but some primal instinct was demanding he rush to the aid of his allies.

Then Dikayumi snapped, and the decision was made for him.

.

The battle at the gates of Seireitei had separated into two distinct layers. The outnumbered, unseated Shinigami fought the untrained rebels from the Rukongai on the ground, all struggling against the pressure of their champions high above, blazing across the sky in an impressive, terrifying display.

Urai, however, was barely conscious of the fighting. He lay in an alley back within the walls, where some ally had dragged him after his collapse, fighting a battle in his mind.

He had gone into Shikai for the battle, and then tried to go into his Dark Place, and that was when the sickness had overtaken him. Unable to remember where he was, why there were so much fighting, or even who he had become, Urai had nearly been overwhelmed by it all.

Even in his inner world, he was lost to what was going on around him. His Zanpakuto perched in her tree and watched over her paralyzed, unresponsive Shinigami, trapped in fractured memories of the past he couldn't find his way out of.

Memories she had no place in, and only the faintest knowledge of.

_Dark trees, pale bone, blood running black under a colorless moon._

"Snap out of it, already," she grumbled, hefting her favourite coconut. She was so sick of being shunted aside for the past; really, truly sick of it. Leaning out, hanging on by another branch to avoid falling, she let the coconut drop towards her Shinigami's prone form below.

A black blur intercepted the coconut, and threw it back with such force it nearly knocked her off her branch when it hit. She grabbed the tree desperately to steady herself, and by the time she had balanced herself again, whatever had interfered was gone.

Like usual.

The black thing only showed up when Urai was in his "dark place", as he called it, or when his fake medicine failed and the past he should be forgetting came back full force. Of course she knew it was the medicine causing his forgetfulness in the first place, but she had promised herself she would never tell him that. She _wanted_ the past gone, erased forever and as soon as possible.

She had only barely come to life, and she knew it was a fragile life she had prematurely come into. Whatever he was before wasn't quite dead yet, and if it came back... there might just be a change in the balance of power that left her dead before her time.

Her and the black past. It was a battle between them, with her Shinigami caught in the middle. For that reason, more then anything else, she was determined not to lose. The past that she _had_ seen was something evil, and she would do whatever it took to drag them both away from slipping back in there.

She dropped from her branch, keeping a wary eye out for the black intruder, and settled down next to her Shinigami.

Then she began to sing.


	24. Interlude 10

Interlude

He felt like the only one left in the Muerte Hold. Everyone else had gone off to wage war against the Shinigami, following their lord and master into a battle they could not win.

General Akama prayed, at least, that they could not win. The very notion of Arrarrico Caro taking control of Seireitei made the former Shinigami sick to his stomach, and _that_ thought made him sick at heart.

That was life under Arrarrico Caro. A paradoxical trap that made those who stubbornly held to their beliefs suffer for it.

One followed Caro whole-heartedly, or one followed with reservations and spent every moment in emotional agony, trying to stay true to conflicting loyalties. Some, men and women he had worked with for years, had gone mad trying to balance those loyalties. The members of the Rescue Plan, suddenly dragged from their base and told they had to chose their master. Caro or Aizen Taichou?

An impossible choice.

And now the last of the Rescue Plan, those that had somehow continued despite serving an unworthy master, were gone too. All of them, dead, except him.

Akama Kagemaru took a deep breath, trying to force his gloomy thoughts to vacate. He was still holed up in the infirmary, though it seemed even the Fourth Division medics Caro had snagged were gone off to war. His injuries from the catastrophe at the gate were still far from healed, and the general figured he wouldn't make it far if he tried to get up. So he lay there, as he often did when by himself, and tried to think of anything besides betrayal.

It was his constant company, betrayal. He couldn't escape it, though he had thought he had when Aizen Taichou saved him from the dark. Saved him from _Kurotsuchi_.

It all came in circles. He had betrayed Soul Society to serve Aizen, just to escape that monster-in-Shinigami-guise, Kurotsuchi. Then, on the brink of repaying Aizen for saving his life, he was forced to betray his savior to instead serve a man under whom Kurotsuchi also now served.

_Curse the fates that keep leading me to meetings with that creature._

There was a rap at the door, and then the First General opened the door and let himself in.

"Oh, you're awake. Good. Our good master Caro was a little apprehensive about leaving you without medical supervision."

General Akama scoffed. "Of course he was," he said, even as his heart twisted inside of him at the negative implications. "But I'm not that important in the grand scheme of things."

"Regardless, he does care about his followers," the First General said with a strange tone, sitting down in one of the nearby chairs. He took a book from inside his cloak and flicked through it casually, refusing to meet Akama's eyes. "Loyalty is a precious thing, and when it only goes one way... Caro sees that as an insult to the concept itself."

"His every existence is an insult to loyalty," Akama replied, then winced as his chest constricted painfully. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't talk about him like that." The words were spoken almost unconsciously, torn from deep within in a sudden panic that he was letting his master down.

The First General, however, was silent for several moments as he considered.

"You're right, though," he admitted finally, though he too looked tense as he said it. "None of this is real, no more real then the illusions of your first master." He fingered his weathered bookmark, then leaned back to stare thoughtfully at the ceiling. "I think both of us would have killed Caro long ago if we could have, in the names of those he made us betray." His free hand clenched into a tight fist, his fingers growing pale. "Yet even so... I hate myself for saying it."

"And I hate you for saying it, even while I agree completely," Akama murmured to himself. Then, louder, "What are we going to do, General?"

"Fight for Caro," the First General replied sincerely. "Overthrow Seireitei if it is possible, and if not, then we die in the name of a man none of us even like."


	25. Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

Ryohime slashed a finger through the air, red light following the movement as she summoned one of the highest level kidos she could manage.

"Glory of the sky and power beneath earth," she chanted, "molded in darkness to a single form. Strike from my fingers and tear apart the world! Hado no Yonju-kyu, Kasaiinazuma!"

Red lightning flashed between her fingers, and at the final word it streaked up into the sky. A heartbeat later it struck down again, hitting her cloaked opponent with dazzling fury and branching off to hit all those around him with rapidly decreasing strength.

Ryohime winced as Herald jumped away, flexing a now-numb hand, and Lilynette's fur poofed up and sizzled. _I forgot about the secondary bolts_. _Baka Ryohime..._

Her opponent stumbled backwards, nerves fried and fully stunned from taking the brunt of the Kasaiinazuma. "Muramasa!" Ryohime cried, letting her empty Zanpakuto get pulled through reality, and Muramasa materialized right above the stunned, weak Arrancar, driving downwards with the sword he now held tightly in both hands.

_That's another down._

The fight had already changed shape since they began, what felt like ages ago. Steve had taken special notice of Kurotsuchi early on, and the two had been battling intensely in their own little world ever since. The mad Hollow was sticking by Kurotsuchi, though now the crazed thing was a weapon to both sides. Steve's puppet-master power kept any enemy from getting too close, and on a surprisingly regular basis Ryohime could hear the confused and enraged screeching of the mad Hollow as it suddenly came under Steve's control.

Caro was gone. He had set his minions on them, then turned and walked back through his Garganta as if the fight was beneath him. Ryohime, her battle spirit on fire, wished she could have gone after him, but they had their hands full already with the three other minions he had left them.

It had taken the joint efforts of Herald and Lilynette, _and_ Ryohime and Muramasa, to take down this second one, and without Muramasa's aid Erina was now fighting the last one alone. Ryohime turned to run to her aid, but stumbled in midair and nearly lost her footing. Muramasa appeared at her side, steadying her.

"That claw had some sort of poison on it, I'm sure of it," Ryohime said through gritted teeth, glancing down at her slashed leg. "Blast it all."

"Herald is going to Erina's aid," Muramasa said reassuringly, then glanced at Steve's battle behind them. "And I think Steve has his fight handled for now."

Ryohime ripped part of her robe away so she could better examine her wound. At Muramasa's words, she nodded. "Good, then..."

Her healing kido flickered weakly, and despite repeated attempts, she couldn't get it steady enough to do much good. She glanced at Muramasa apologetically. "I don't have the energy after that Kasaiinazuma for healing _and_ shikai."

"Call me if things turn," he replied in understanding, handing her the empty Zanpakuto. A moment later he was gone, and Ryohime retreated to a nearby rooftop so she could concentrate fully on the healing kido. And, just a little, on the enemies they had remaining.

Kurotsuchi and the third hooded, masked minion. Both had displayed more cunning then the two enemies the Special Units had already dealt with, but she wasn't that concerned anymore. Ryohime's biggest worry at the beginning had been that Caro would stay and fight, and he had just walked away. She was confident that they could handle the minions he had left behind, even the monster Hollow. _Especially_ if the others got here soon.

.

_Dikayumi opened his eyes to blackness._

Welcome to death.

_Dikayumi tried to summon his bow, but there was no reishi in this place, wherever it was. That, more then the darkness and more then the echoing evil voice, worried him. No reishi meant no weapons. He was helpless._

_Two pinpricks of light- no, not light really, just white, appeared in the blackness. Eyes, reflecting no light but somehow still visible. _

You crushed me in here, into darkness. Now it's your turn to suffocate, and my turn to run free.

_"Are you Aaroniero?" asked Dikayumi defiantly. "I killed you, starved you out of existence."_

You wish. Whatever consciousness that old timer used to have did, perhaps, die out, but you never confronted _me_. You never followed the lead of the Hollow-Humans and confront the actual darkness, you merely dealt with the... symptoms.

_"You're my Hollow past, though," Dikayumi insisted. "The power from Aaroniero's life."_

I am **you**, Quincy. And you made me what I am.

_The eyes narrowed, then blinked out. The Hollow began to laugh, a familiar, dark laugh that seemed to be coming now from every direction at once, and echoing, echoing..._

And you destroyed your only ally before you ever found him, along with all the others Aaroniero brought with him. Now you are _truly_ alone, except for **me**!

.

Steve barely recognized Kurotsuchi; in fact at first he had been confused, totally fooled by the change of appearance. Where, long ago, the captain-level Shinigami had worn offensively copious amounts of makeup and absurd outfits with no aesthetic value, he now only had the same red and purple outfit all of Caro's minions seemed to wear.

He couldn't hide his reiatsu, though, not for long. Steve would recognize that feeling anywhere – he had had centuries (centuries he couldn't properly remember, nor had any desire to) to have it seared into his senses' memory.

And now _Kurotsuchi_, Syazelaporro's killer, was the enemy of Soul Society. This time it was not he, but Steve who had the good guys depending on him for victory.

That made this battle for revenge all the sweeter.

Steve's Zanpakuto, Ningyōzukai, was already released, giving him his full Arrancar-style power and form. Kurotsuchi's pet Hollow, however, was a wild creature, and its instincts were making it hard to control with his puppet-master fingers. Somehow, every time he got it too close to actually harming Kurotsuchi, the creature snapped out of Steve's control with what Steve assumed was either a surge of incredible rage or incredible fear. In this experimental monstrosity, he couldn't be sure which one it was.

Kurotsuchi, unfortunately, had no qualms this time about attacking directly, in fact he seemed interested in little else. Steve was constantly retreating, trying to get the mad Hollow in between himself and Kurotsuchi, formulating his plans.

Despite the focused nature of his power, Steve knew he was at his best against a large number of opponents, and at a distance. Take control of one enemy, then another, then another, all the time only taking enough time to force each one to attack the nearest opponent before moving on. Create confusion, conflict, and make the enemy do his work themselves.

In this battle, however, he had only a Hollow too crazy to understand what was going on, and Kurotsuchi. He couldn't control both at once, and the Hollow was faster then Kurotsuchi and, thus, more immediately dangerous. But the stupid thing _wouldn't_ attack Kurotsuchi!

He drove it forward with a flick of his fingers, not to attack Kurotsuchi but to block him. That, at least, the Hollow could do without snapping again.

The problem was, Steve mused as he gained some distance, was that he no longer had any weapon with which to do direct harm to his opponent. He wasn't a hundred percent certain he could take out the Hollow and Kurotsuchi if he sealed his Ningyōzukai and fought with his sword alone, but as it was, puppeting the Hollow was nearly useless. He could try and snare Kurotsuchi himself, but then he'd have the Hollow to deal with. Ideally, he would like to have Kurotsuchi under his control with a released Zanpakuto, and then have him take out the Hollow, but Steve had yet to figure out how to force someone else to release their Zanpakuto while under his control.

It was an irritating problem. If only his lazy brothers would hurry up and get over here. Or Sanseki, even! Where was the Second Division officer in all this?

The Arrancar Herald and Erina were fighting released his Zanpakuto, upping the ambient pressure another few notches. The mad Hollow shook its head as if it were a cat who had just water dumped on it, then snarled as Steve yanked it around to intercept Kurotsuchi again.

Cero. If only he could make it use a cero. Again though, it wasn't something he could remotely control. He could make it go through the motions, but there was an element of mental decision to actually make it happen that he had no control over. He was a puppet-master pulling strings, not some hypnotist possessing his victims' souls.

A notion came to him.

_Oh, of course. Cero. _I_ should be able to do that, too._

He spared a hand from controlling the Hollow, just for a moment, and instinctively began charging a cero. He had practiced a few times since his "reawakening", as it were, all those months ago, but never under pressure, and never with _much_ success.

He was confident, however, that he could do it. He wasn't like Dikayumi or Erina or Vance, his Hollow power having to live side-by-side with Quincy or Shinigami power. His power was unadulterated Hollow crammed into a human body. A cero should be easy.

There was a flicker of energy at the end of his fingertips, a spark in the air, then the cero fizzled and died. Steve tsked and tried again, only to feel his one-handed grasp on the mad Hollow snap and had to hastily return his attention to the battle.

A cero _should_ be easy. _Tch_.

Something seemed rather odd about this battle, but it took a few moments for it to hit him fully. There was no chitchat, none at all. Kurotsuchi was quiet, concentrating on trying to get around his own mad Hollow to attack Steve directly instead of making smart remarks. That didn't seem to line up with what Steve remembered of his personality, though he supposed the same could possibly be said of him as well.

"You haven't released your sword," he commented, just to break the monotony of the tedious fight. "That's not very courteous of you, seeing as I have already released mine."

"Tch," Kurotsuchi replied, totally disinterested. "I don't need my sword. You've fallen, Granz, if you have to resort to hijacking _my_ inventions to fight me."

Steve glanced in bewilderment at the mad Hollow for a moment. "In what world is getting a hold of a Vasto Lorde and driving it nuts an _invention_?"

Kurotsuchi shunpoed around, but Steve merely flicker his fingers, having the Hollow leap into place to block him yet again. _It's just a stalemate... a boring stalemate._

"It was infinitely more complex," Kurotsuchi replied in irritation. "Considering the test subject was barely Adjuchas level at first. And then finding it proper meals... sorting through the refuse Caro sent me to find only those who'd be an asset..."

"So it's a pampered Hollow," Steve replied scornfully. "No wonder it won't attack you properly, more's the pity."

Kurotsuchi didn't reply, suddenly looking a little sullen. Steve wondered why, but a moment later he caught the subtle shift in the air and reiatsu around them. He glanced to the side, where the other battle was going on.

Or, rather, _had_ been going on. The others' opponent was falling through the air on its last gasps of life, Erina's lance Zanpakuto speared right through its mask. Even in that short glance, Steve saw Herald and Lilynette look his way, looking ready to intervene as soon as they confirmed their own opponent was down for good.

"Tch."

"The tides are about to turn, Kurotsuchi," said Steve. "Maybe now you had better release that disgusting sword of yours..."

There was a roar as reality tore apart, and a newly formed Garganta appeared right behind Kurotsuchi, Arrarrico Caro standing in the tear. He took in the scene quietly, then shook his head in disappointment and motioned at Kurotsuchi.

"Bring Primary and come, there's been a new development in the Seireitei invasion. I'll send the First General to finish up here later."

Steve tensed, but Caro didn't seem intent on a fight. Kurotsuchi scowled and made a little noise of disgust, but motioned at the mad Hollow and turned to leave. The Hollow strained, trying to break free from Steve's invisible strings, then howled in frustration when it failed.

Caro looked at it, then at Steve.

"Let it go," he said calmly. "You wouldn't know how to use it, anyway."

"And hand you back another weapon to be used against us?" Steve retorted, tightening his control on the Hollow. "That would be extremely foolish."

"It would also be foolish to test my patience, seeing as you have betrayed the last chance of loyalty I gave you," Caro hissed, throwing back one side of his cloak and putting a hand on the hilt of his formerly hidden Zanpakuto. "Let it go, or I shall forget my other obligations for a time and crush you all _now!_"

His reiatsu spiked. Air shimmered and trembled from the pressure, and Steve felt it looming like storm clouds above him, deep and threatening. Almost without meaning to, he let go. The mad Hollow scampered to Caro's heels, crouching and whining under the pressure like the pitiful creature it was.

"Go," Caro snapped at Kurotsuchi, who wordless headed off through the Garganta, beckoning with a finger to make the Hollow follow. Caro continued to stand at the entrance, glowering at Steve and, behind him, the other members of the Fourteenth Division, all of whom seemed frozen under his gaze.

Time seemed to slow down as they waited, tensely, for someone to make a move. Steve was certain Caro would draw his sword, do as he threatened and fight them all. Finally, however, the storm-cloud-reiatsu passed, and Caro turned around without a word to follow Kurotsuchi into the darkness.


	26. Interlude 11

Interlude

Scattered Segments from the Journal of Arrarrico Caro.

_._

_"Aizen was defeated by Kurosaki Ichigo and Muramasa, a rogue Zanpakuto Aizen had no prior knowledge of._

_"That was a mistake I determined not to make, and so I studied everything, through the eyes and ears of my earliest Shinigami followers. Every noble family, every Shinigami captain and their families, every officer, past and present, who still lives or had an unconfirmed death. I studied strange events, legends, and prophesies, and put an end to many that could throw a wrench in my plans before they ever came to fruition. I gained my two of my four generals in that way."_

_._

_"I know what it is I am facing. Fourteen Captains, including Kurosaki Ichigo, all studied as far as common records can provide. Observed, measured, Zanpakutos noted. Dozens of officers, studied thoroughly. The traitor Arrancar and Arrancar Mod-Soul, and Kurosaki Ryohime, wielding the second of the two Zanpakutos that defeated Aizen. All neatly set down on the board, and playing their parts as predicted. Not as I would want it, nor as I hoped for, but as predicted."_

_._

_"I'm growing more and more fond of my head researcher. _

_"Akama-kun hates Kurotsuchi-san, and has told me as much many times. He used to be in the man's Division and has first-hand experience with Kurotsuchi's methods, or so he claims. I'm inclined to believe him, but I still can't give up such a valuable resource. I must simply keep Kurotsuchi away from the loyal._

_"We've found the perfect line of research for him, though. His Zanpakuto is dead, he apparently treated it so poorly for so long that their souls became disconnected, and it's now little more then a sharpened lump of metal. This makes him far less useful in a fight then he should be, and it was burning him from even before I found him. The drive to discover new power is now his focus, and a better one for the Dioses Muerte I cannot think of._

_"The lesser Hogyoku we found with Akama's men gives him a bit of a headstart, and Aizen's own generals give him a template to follow. A Shinigami, turned Hollow, might achieve greater powers then either were formerly capable of. It is with that as a goal Kurotsuchi Mayuri now works._

_"I've been sending those that cannot be loyal to me, or who are conflicted to the point of insanity, to his lab to use as test subjects. He has had a notion I find very promising; Hollowfying weaker Shinigami and then having them devour each other, the strongest coming out on top with the strength of them all. With subjects who are already hybridizations of Hollow and Shinigami... the potential may be greater then previously suspected._

_"I look forward to seeing his results. Sometimes I must remind myself that he is a despicable man, and crueler then a Shinigami should be capable of... otherwise I might find myself respecting him."_


	27. Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Steve sat on the edge of a building, staring at his finger as he tried, and failed, to charge a cero.

It had been half an hour since Caro left, but Steve couldn't shake the nagging feeling that he had just barely escaped death. It was, as he categorized it, an instinctive feeling, like a predator had cornered him and posed to strike, then turned around and wandered off.

It troubled him, how easily he had been intimidated. How _powerless_ he had felt.

"I was the Eighth Espada," he whispered to himself, trying again to charge his cero. "I shouldn't be so easily cowed."

He felt someone approaching, and let his feeble cero die again. He looked up just as Sanseki alighted on the edge of the building nearby. The Second Division officer looked around suspiciously.

"Is everything under control here? Did you find the Arrancar" he said, and Steve shrugged.

"Yeah, about thirty minutes ago. Where were you?"

"A Shinigami in purple and red, I think one of Caro's minions, was skulking around the hospital," Sanseki replied. "I felt something going on here and at the headquarters, but by the time I defeated my guy, you all seemed to be done. I just finished a quick recon, seeing if there were anymore of these _Dioses Muerte_ around."

"Caro showed up," said Steve grimly. "With some minions."

Sanseki was quiet for a moment. Then, "Oh. Did you defeat him?"

"He retreated. I'm not entirely sure why, he said something had changed in Seireitei and needed to postpone the attack here for a bit. We can expect another assault though, at any time."

Sanseki nodded, taking a deep breath. "I'll do a bit more scouting, more thorough this time. Most of your companions were already heading for the headquarters when I finished up, but if that disturbance isn't dealt with by the time I finish, I'll go straight there." He paused for another moment, then prompted, "Why haven't you gone to see what's going on?"

"I'm not really sure," Steve said quietly. "I guess I'm just... a bit shaken."

He hated himself for saying it immediately after the words came out of his mouth. He had just been trying to convince _himself_ that he wasn't scared, now the Second Division, of all Divisions, would think the Special Forces leadership was weak. He looked up, meaning to correct himself somehow, but Sanseki didn't look scornful at all. Even, maybe, just the slightest bit understanding.

"You're too young to be leading," he said bluntly. "Of course you are. But at least you have the good sense to be shaken when faced with a dangerous foe – Seireitei has had leaders who weren't, and paid dearly for it." He nodded firmly, and just like that vanished, Shunpoing away to do his scouting.

Steve sighed, turning back to his weak cero practice. There was still that weak reminder in the back of his senses that something was going on at Headquarters... but he ignored it.

Everyone else was there right now. And he needed to think.

.

Ryohime wasn't sure what exactly she was bursting into, but the gravity of the situation was immediately obvious upon entering the cellar. Edward and Yylfordt stood in ready combat stances over an unconscious Kitsune, while a black whirlwind of reiatsu advanced on them from deeper inside.

A Hollow... no, not quite. Ryohime jumped down to land at Yylfordt's side and, squinting against the flurry of sand, could faintly make out a torn white suit hanging raggedly over a half-Hollow form.

"Is that... Dikayumi?" she asked, aghast. Yylfordt nodded grimly, not taking his eyes off the Hollowfying Quincy.

"We were here training when he came in, and we noticed pretty quickly when he started losing control. Kitsune tried to contain him when things started getting worse, but he expended too much spiritual energy trying to do a level eighty Bakudo and nearly killed himself in the process."

"It's about time you guys got here," Edward added tensely. "Erina, you and Ryohime can do something about this, right?"

"I don't know, I don't actually know that many Bakudos," Erina replied anxiously with a quick glance at Ryohime. "Do you-?"

"Not anything more powerful then what Kitsune could do." Ryohime drew her Zanpakuto, though her leg still twinged with pain from the earlier encounter. "Does anyone remember what we're supposed to do in this situation?"

Edward shook his head. "He's losing an inward battle, I think. What can we do? Nothing, just keep him from killing anyone until either he suppresses the Hollow or..."

"Succumbs to it, and we have no choice but to kill him," finished Herald grimly, hopping down on Erina's other side. "And here half of us are already worn out from the battle upstairs." Lilynette, answering his silent call, appeared again at his side.

"I'm afraid you're right," Erina said quietly, then whirled around and knelt at Kitsune's side. "Someone cover me, I'm going to try and get Kitsune back into fighting condition. Between the three of us, we could probably manage to put up a better containment then any of us individually."

Herald nodded, glancing at Edward and Yylfordt. "We'll take the fight to him, try and keep him as far from the girls as possible." At Ryohime's indignant huff, he added, "We're going to need a barrier at full power, and you're already worn out. Jump into another battle and you might just faint before Erina finishes. Just stay back here, alright?"

Ryohime couldn't argue. "But I'm calling Muramasa," she said immediately as the others started forward, and Herald just grunt-sighed at her stubbornness before following Edward. "Whisper, Muramasa."

_Not... why do you call... -hime?_

She looked around, confused. Who was talking to her? She didn't recognize that voice at all. _Muramasa?_

_... not my name! THAT'S NOT MY NAME!_

She jerked backwards in shock, dropping her Zanpakuto to the ground. It was a voice inside her head, a stranger's voice _inside her head_! "Muramasa!" she called again, frantic now. Where was he? Why wasn't he coming?

"Are you alright?" asked Erina worriedly, looking up from Kitsune. Ryohime looked at her, eyes wide with worry.

"Muramasa isn't answering!"

Even as she said it, she heard the click of her Zanpakuto's long fingernails, and then he was behind her, putting a hand comfortingly on her shoulder.

"I did answer," he said, though when Ryohime looked at him... there was a shadow in his voice, and darkening his eyes.

"Dikayumi needs us," she said, trying to bring herself back to the now. "Help Herald and the others?"

Muramasa nodded and vanished again, this time phasing through the air to the battle beyond. Ryohime sat down, suddenly feeling weak at the knees.

_Who was that?_


	28. Interlude 12

Interlude

Muramasa sat on his favourite rock, watching the sunrise over the frozen sea.

Ryohime's was a peaceful inner world, a thing that had struck him as odd in the earlier years. After his first master's death, he had been adopted in a way by Kurosaki Ichigo, and his Zanpakuto and Inner Hollow had made for a complicated life. Muramasa had assumed, before he knew her well, that Ichigo's daughter would inherit the wild qualities of her father and never see a peaceful moment in her inner world.

It could not have been farther from the truth. Even the water, spreading out forever before his eyes, remained still and unmoving, frozen into great sheets of ice against which the sunlight fractured and sparkled in every imaginable way.

And it was silent. Peaceful.

Silent.

Some instinct made Muramasa tense, waiting for his name to be called. Ryohime was fighting someone, and she often called him even when he wasn't, strictly, needed. They fought side-by-side almost for the fun of it, just to have a companion in battle.

But there was no call this time.

And, though there had been battles in the past he had neither been a part of nor expected to be a part of, this time he did expect it. Every moment that went past and his name was still unspoken, he found himself growing more and more concerned.

_Call me, Ryohime. Call my name._

Muramasa started, eyes widening. He hadn't said anything.

_Why won't you call me? Are we not one? You fight alone when you don't have to, and you know I long to help. Call me!_

That wasn't his voice. There was no one else it could belong to, though, for this was Ryohime's inner world. The strange voice was distant and slightly broken... though Muramasa had no idea what direction it was coming from, or he would have gone at once. This wasn't right.

_Why can't I hear you?! Is there something wrong with me, that you would rather die then turn to me to save you? Have you been silenced? Ryohime, you know my name, and I need you to call for me!_

The desperation, however... that Muramasa suddenly understood. The situation was bizarre and made no sense to him, but the tone of sudden fear and horror in that strange voice struck a cord in Muramasa's heart.

It was the same kind of horror that Muramasa had felt when he learned his master had once called for him, in a time of desperation, and Muramasa hadn't heard him. The fear that one had betrayed his master, combined with the dawning horror that one was being cast aside.

"Muramasa!"

Relief made Muramasa's heart skip a beat, and he jumped immediately to his master's summons. Yet even as he ran to Ryohime's side, behind him he could just barely hear the faint screaming of someone who had not heard her call. Who waited, perhaps, for a call that would never come.


	29. Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

Lieutenant Hachiro flashed around the nearest enemy, tripping him neatly before driving both daggers into the man's spine. The prickle of some seventh sense warned him to duck and he dropped low, a Zanpakuto whistling over his head.

Zanpakuto.

Hachiro flipped back, away from the new opponent, and crossed his daggers to block the next blow, the clang reverberating through his arms. It was one of the masked Shinigami, a traitor of Seireitei. Hachiro's eyes hardened.

The Rukongai citizens, he pitied. They were foolish, violent spirits easily manipulated into throwing their lives away against trained soldiers. But the Shinigami who had turned, who had gone over to Caro's side and killed their own former allies... it was all Hachiro could do to keep his anger from showing.

Anger wasn't an appropriate emotion for a specialist like him, not during a battle.

The battle raged on all around, though the most dangerous individuals had already found each other and created, mostly by accident, pockets of empty ground around them where no one else dared fight. Captains, lieutenants, the red-cloaked Arrancar, and some of Caro's Shinigami engaged in high-pressure battles lesser fighters just couldn't interfere with. Hachiro left them to it; he wasn't the officer most suited to take part in these dramatic battles of masters. He was an assassin, and a tracker. His Zanpakuto simply wasn't up to the standards of his peers as far as destructive capabilities were concerned.

Instead, he stayed in the thick of the enemy rabble, helping the lower seats and unseated Shinigami. The Rukongai rebels were dangerous, if easily manipulated, and their brutal nature was deadly for the raw recruits that the Thirteen Court Guard Divisions had been forced to bring in. Most had never faced anything more intense then a practice battle against Hollows with experienced Shinigami watching out for them. This was _not_ a good first battle.

Hachiro's opponent released his Zanpakuto, some kind of earth-manipulating weapon it seemed, and Hachiro leapt away again to gain room, nearly landing on a slick of ice someone had left lying around.

Chaos.

There were too many of them, on both sides. With this much conflicting power in one place, things were quickly descending into a mad-house of confusion. Half a hundred released Zanpakutos were turning the battlefield into something barely habitable, let alone suitable for a battle of this scale. Someone went skidding past, pin-wheeling his arms wildly in a vain effort to regain his balance on the slick ice.

It was ridiculous.

And yet... Hachiro had the sinking feeling that this was exactly what Caro had been hoping for. The recruits, many straight out of the Acadamy, simply couldn't react as they should to a situation like this. Caro's people were forcing the Shinigami back towards the walls, while the champions of both sides were making things worse with their bankais, Resurreccións, and high-level Kido.

And, over everything, the ceaseless pressure. It was distracting to Hachiro, but deadly to the weaker recruits. Some of them, caught too close to the captains, could do nothing but choke for breath, their prone figures easy targets for Caro's army, or at least those who weren't gasping on the ground themselves. If things continued like this...

Hachiro feared for Seireitei's chances. And what was worse, none of the captains seemed to have noticed the problem yet.

.

There were captain-level Shinigami among the red-cloaks. Ichigo had expected the Arrancar to be the biggest problem, but that notion had proven painfully wrong. Almost deadly.

His first opponent had released a bankai almost immediately, trapping the two of them (and a few unfortunate fighters who happened to be nearby) in a cave of unbreakable ice. He was clearly a madman, though, laughing and taunting even after Ichigo gained the upper-hand. Even after Ichigo cut him down.

_Where did Caro find these guys?_ Ichigo thought, jumping out of the crumbling icy ruin. He glanced back at his opponent, saw the dying Shinigami's own blood freezing as it pooled under him.

Captain-level, he might have been... but wherever he had come from, however Caro had gotten a hold of him... it had broken him. His bankai was unstable, his fighting style unbalanced.

_Rather like a certain someone we all know, eh?_ he asked pointedly, but his inner Hollow didn't reply. He didn't have to, really; it had been a long time since Shiro had been weak enough to be bested simply by reason of his overwhelmingly aggressive fighting style.

Ichigo took to the air, ignoring the sting of his various injuries. Some shards of metal, glinting brightly in the sunlight, just barely missed his head and Ichigo hastily retreated. Accidentally stepping into one of Byakuya's fights could be a messy mistake.

He had just spotted his next opponent, a released Arrancar fighting (toying, really) with Rukia's lieutenant, when a familiar tearing filled the air behind the battle. Garganta. From the feel of it, it seemed Caro was coming back with friends.

.

Arrarrico Caro stood in the shadows of the Garganta, his generals at his side and Kurotsuchi's beast pacing behind, and took a moment to eye the battle below.

Things were going well. The officers looked like they were going to be a bit of a handful, but that was to be expected. That was why leaders _existed._ His stolen officers and Arrancar seemed to be distracting them, at least, which was they were supposed to do. He couldn't count on much more from the results of a second-hand Hogyoku.

"Your turn, my friends," he said, turning slightly to smile at his generals. He wished Akama-kun could have been there; as it was he'd only have two to fight with him properly. And, of course, Primary...

Kurotsuchi and Halibel followed his silent command, jumping down to join the fray. Before his First General could follow, however, Caro held up his hand.

"I don't want the traitors interfering," he said slowly. "Head back to the World of the Living. Do what you have to do, but if Kurosaki Ryohime interferes, just kill her. No games. I'll send you some backup when I have the chance, though I doubt you'll need it."

"I'm not sure 'no games' is the kinder way to die," the General retorted, but he turned to head back to Hueco Mundo. He would need General Akama to make a Senkaimon for him to the World of the Living. "Is there no one else you want me to leave alone?"

Caro hardly had to think about it. "No. The more miserable they are when they die, the happier I will be."

What, exactly, his old, dear friend and highest-ranked follower muttered under his breath, Caro wasn't sure, but it gave him that feeling like a knife was aimed for his back. He smiled, striding out of the Garganta into the sky above Seireitei.

The knife was staying right where it belonged, and would only be thrown when he demanded it. That odd prickle, that warning of ill-intent, hadn't concerned Caro in years.

.

Hachiro beheaded another rebel with crossed knives, then flashed back out of the thick of the fighting to look for another enemy in need of swift assassination. A red-cloak charged at him and the Second Division Lieutenant skillfully knocked the Zanpakuto aside, redirecting the man's charge straight into a slick of blood. Off-balance, the man was easy to dispatch, and Hachiro was allowed a moment to reevaluate the battle.

Reinforcements for the enemy. Not many, but it seemed another set-back to delay the captains helping everyone else.

A knife flashed, and Hachiro threw himself aside just in time. The blade sliced his cheek, and he felt an instant burn like acid. Poison shikai, or just poison...?

Then a familiar reiatsu separated itself from the general chaos, and Hachiro's eyes narrowed. He knew this man, one of the Second Division's former third-seats (and, at one time, Hachiro's commanding officer) who had gone missing years ago. He spotted him a moment later, walking through the struggling forms wearing the red and purple of all Caro's men, a mask covering his face. _So you _were_ still alive..._

Hachiro felt the acid eating away at his own black mask and quickly ripped the ruined cloth from his face. The cut still burned, but the mask had saved him the worst of the acid. He tightened his grip, watching the approaching traitor warily.

Rukongai madmen and rebel Shinigami were one thing, but now he was facing one of his own kind. An assassin, trained to make use of speed and surprise.

Which begged the question, in a very untimely moment, why had a former Stealth Force member given up the element of surprise so easily?

The two flash-stepped, meeting in midair in an invisible clash of knives. Even as he fought, Hachiro thought. For the first time the entire fight, he suspected something more at play then what was on the surface. What that was, he didn't know, but everything he had ever been taught told him his former superior would _never_ waste his first attack.

As the Captain would say, the very idea of it rubbed his fur the wrong way. It was simply inconceivable for a Stealth Force officer, past or present.

"You wasted your surprise on a long throw," he hissed the next time the fight brought him face-to-mask with the man. "Why?"

"I'm going to kill you, fifth-seat," came the response. "But if I'm going to kill a former comrade, it's not going to be from behind."

_Useless sentiment._

Was this truly the same man who had taught him those decades ago, back when Hachiro's brother had held the lieutenancy? What had happened in those years to destroy, so completely, the Second Division mentality? Like the element of surprise, the cold and impersonal approach to combat was a thing he couldn't imagine giving up willingly, whatever the situation. It was a safe-guard for the individual, a sharpening of the tool, and made the Second more efficient then any other Division in Seireitei.

To throw that away...

Caro had done something unspeakable to these Shinigami. And Hachiro was willing to bet he wasn't done yet, unless Seireitei stopped him here and now...


	30. Interlude 13

Interlude

.

Thoughts of a General.

.

_Loyalty._

_I wish, at times, I hadn't a shred of loyalty in my body. I could have avoided this whole insane affair. _

_It was loyalty that brought Caro and I into conflict, and when he killed the one man I wanted to protect... it was loyalty that made me chase him down. _

_Loyalty makes you blind. I should have left then, found another reason to live and moved on. But I couldn't. And so Caro ensnared me, dragged me into this campaign..._

_Should the fact that I ensnared him, too, be comforting? We were both a split second away from victory, complete control over the other, but for once our end-alls didn't end it all. We tied. He can't want to kill me, and I can't kill him however much I may want to... or _wish_ I could want to. Ultimately, his power proved the more powerful, because now he is the one running the show._

_If loyalty didn't hold me back..._

_I wish I could kill the others. They don't even have the safety of being his life-long friend to protect them. They walk into that _monster's_ laboratory because he says so, and..._

_..._

_I have no love for the Shinigami. They've ruined my friends' lives._

_But even they don't deserve that._

_Someday, I'm getting out of this. And when I do, either the others get out with me, or I come back and kill every last one of them._

_Loyalty?_

_Caro doesn't know the meaning of the word. _


	31. Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

"So do you plan to keep your blackened buddy in my basement for the foreseeable future?" asked Kitsune dryly, but no one in the exhausted group lying about his living room seemed inclined to answer.

Ryohime was absent, having passed out from overextending her powers. The others were collapsed on whatever chairs and couches they could find. Edward took up a whole couch, sprawled across both armrests like a...

Kitsune caught himself. He couldn't believe he had been about to fall for Edward's silly posturing.

Erina appeared in the doorway, pale but still looking stronger then anyone else. "I'm done with Ryohime," she said tiredly. "Who's next?"

Yylfordt and Edward exchanged glances, then Edward gave Erina an upside-down grin from the armrest.

"Take a break. Kitsune's patched us up for now, and we can't have you collapsing, too."

Erina conceded, flopping down right on the mat in the middle of the room. "Ugh," she moaned, and most everyone else echoed her in gloomy agreement.

The same question was in every mind. What now?

They were all worn to the bone. First the fight with Caro's men, then Dikayumi, both of which had been more intense battles then the Fourteenth Division had been used to of late. If Caro came back, as he had been implying at the end, they'd be in no fit state to fight again.

Herald threw his arms over the back of his chair, sighing at the ceiling. "We've gone soft," he declared in a heavy tone. "Come on, Lilynette, we're patrolling."

His constant companion rose to her feet, and after a moment Herald followed her lead. The others watched the two head for the door with an understandable astonishment.

"Now he has condemned everyone else to feel _really_ lazy," Edward grumbled. "Awfully inconsiderate."

Erina turned over onto her stomach, looking at Edward in alarm. "But what if he's right? We haven't done any serious fighting since Aizen's jailbreak, except in training with one another, and that hardly counts."

"Oh, yes, it counts," protested Yylfordt. "Not all of us are Espada, you may recall."

"But I've seen your fights, Edward always goes easy on you," Erina countered, and Yylfordt closed his mouth with a sheepish snap. "The point is, we haven't been pressed lately. It's been too easy, and now we're slipping."

There was a moment of silence. There was a challenge in the air now, a kind of tension to see who was going to react first.

"Well, fine!" Edward finally said, sitting up abruptly. "Come on, Erina, if we're going to go hard on one another, I need someone other then Yylfordt to train on. And Steve is sulking somewhere, so that leaves you. Nope, no resting and healing," he added as she began to protest. "You're right, we're too used to having the chance to heal up and get back to a hundred percent between battles. That stops now. Come _on_, up, up, and at 'em."

Kitsune leaned back in his chair. "I can always step in for emergency healing if someone shows up, anyway," he said, and immediately regretted it when Edward caught him in a pointed glare.

"You're Yylfordt's opponent."

.

_Heh, made a narrow escape there, Starrk,_ Lilynette said with a chuckle, and Herald found himself smiling right along with her.

"I caused the need to escape by escaping," he replied. "But it was bound to happen sooner or later, and I get the feeling we all need to up our game a little for the coming days. Do you sense that?"

Lilynette lifted her nose, ears flicking back slightly. _That Second Division officer, isn't it? Szayelaporro's shadow._

"I'm not fond of that particular situation, but at least he's helping out," Herald sighed. "It'd be better if we just had a proper officer on Seireitei's side, though, to take care of all the lieutenant duties and leave us to just fight Hollows and send over souls."

_Except that this _is_ the Fourteenth Division. Special Units. What regular Shinigami, trained in the Academy, would want to settle for a lieutenancy in the oddball Division that not only has hardly any members, but whose members are all officer-level already and don't generally respect authority? _

"I see the point. Still wish I could get out of it, though."

_You didn't have to accept the position. Besides, Szayelaporro does most of the work anyway._

"But he's not 'senior'. I am." Herald took a moment to bemoan his great misfortune of being the oldest. Things he couldn't help continued to haunt him.

The pair's relaxing walk ended abruptly when a Garganta opened on the other side of Karakura. It was a distinct feeling, and though Herald didn't sense anything particularly intimidating coming, it set him on edge. He put a hand on his Zanpakuto. "Let's go."

By the time they reached the site, however, it was already over. The Second Division third-seat had gotten there first, with Steve right behind him, and the scout (or whoever it was supposed to be) was already dead on the ground. Herald nodded curtly to the officer, then gestured to Steve.

"The others are all doing an emergency training session at Kitsune's," he said quietly when Steve reached his roof. "Trying to get a bit of our endurance back." He shot the third-seat a glance to make sure he was far enough away, which he certainly seemed to be, before continuing. "We're all tired, but want to go join them anyway? Get in some extra hours?"

Steve looked torn. "I won't deny we could all use it, but... I mean to practice my cero, and the basement isn't really a great place for that. Speaking of, though, what was going on there earlier? There seemed to be a big ruckus."

Herald drew Steve back across the roof a bit, just to be safe. The Second Division didn't need to hear any of this.

"Dikayumi went Hollow on us," he muttered. "Just out of the blue."

"I thought he had defeated his inner Hollow."

"Suppressed it, not defeated it." Herald sighed. "It seems to be back stronger then ever now. Anyway, it's all under control for now. Kitsune, Erina, and Ryohime have enough Bakudos on him to keep him from hurting himself or anyone else, but it's not a long-term solution."

"He might defeat it himself, get it back under control," Steve suggested, and Herald shrugged.

"That'd be nice, and certainly the easiest solution for the rest of us. I'm just worried that, if he doesn't get a move on, we're going to have to figure out a way to stop that Hollow ourselves before it tears Karakura apart."

Steve opened his mouth to reply, but then stopped when they all felt the Second Division fellow approaching.

"Found anything, Sanseki?" he said instead, and the third-seat nodded.

"It was a scout, almost certainly. He had some kind of reiatsu-recording device on him, and," he held up the device in question, "it seems to already have quite a bit recorded. I can't translate it, it's encoded, but I should return this to Seireitei. It could have information on our opponents on it."

"We should be so lucky," grumbled Herald to Lilynette, giving her a casual scratch behind the ears.

"More then that, though," Sanseki said, almost mischievously, "I may be able to infiltrate Caro's ranks. This scout was very good at hiding his reiatsu, Stealth Force good."

Steve caught on immediately. "Don his clothes, hide your reiatsu... was he wearing one of those masks?"

"Yes, exactly," Sanseki nodded triumphantly. "His men want to be invisible, it seems, and I can be invisible with the best of them."

Herald hmmed. "It'd be a risky business. There could be secret codes you would have no way of knowing, and then it's you against an army."

"I'm the commanding officer of the Infiltration Unit; I'll manage." He nodded to them both, then turned back towards the dead scout. He hesitated, then added as an after-thought, "Nakamaru Fukataichou, consider the investigation over. You're handling things here well, an impressive feat for an untrained officer."

"That sounds very final," Steve said, frowning slightly. "You're leaving immediately?"

"Seireitei is at war. We need intelligence, and the opportunity won't last forever to take this scout's place. If I don't move fast, they might become suspicious."

"Right, then... good luck."

The third-seat saluted, then hefted the dead scout and flash-stepped away. Lilynette bumped Herald's still hand for further scratching.

"Well, that's that, I guess. Seems he won't be writing a suggestion to his captain to replace Fourteenth's officers, at least," Herald said, obediently beginning the head-scratching anew. "That's kinda good news."

"And it'll be nice not to have him popping up unexpectedly," agreed Steve, though he sounded a little more let-down then Herald expected. Then again, Steve had been spending more time with the man then anyone else. If Second Division weren't so generally grim and unfriendly, Herald would have thought Steve had actually befriended the officer.

Something Steve had said earlier, before changing the subject, suddenly struck Herald. "Wait, you're practicing your cero?"

Steve winced.

"Yes... it won't fully activate yet, but I could _really_ use it in conjunction with my release. It's a powerful weapon in our arsenal, and it's frankly embarrassing that mine always fail." He looked at Herald in alarm. "Not a word to Edward, or any of the others."

"Alright, alright, my lips are sealed. But why won't your cero work?" Herald was genuine in his confusion, he had barely used cero in this life, but he _knew_ that it would be there when he needed it.

"How should I know?" Steve grumbled. "It just fizzles and goes out. If it was someone else's failed cero, I would think there was something wrong with the build-up, that a flicker in concentration was responsible, but that's not it. I haven't been able to figure it out."

Herald gave Steve a rough pat on the back. "You will, though, eventually. You always figure these things out." He shrugged, then turned about. "Well, I'm going to go back now, see how everyone else is doing. Don't have a sparring partner, of course," he added with an almost-wink, "but... eh, I can live with that."


	32. Interlude 14

Interlude

.

The thoughts of a General.

.

_It seems I am the only person Caro truly trusts. I have watched for a long time, studied, and it seems I really am the only person in this entire Hold who isn't one of his mental slaves._

_It's almost funny how crooked that man is, but he has to keep up this sickening pretense of caring. He's mad, of course; no one who cares about his followers would take away their free-will so completely, so gleefully. It's a beautiful arrangement – the perfect slave. Imagine, to be able to tell a test subject exactly what you want of them, what is going to happen and why, and _not_ have to worry about them committing treason and deserting before you can get to work!_

_If only I could figure out how to replicate the effect..._

_But that is a line of study for the long term. First, Seireitei is overdue for some wanton destruction, and my projects are going to pave the way._

_Oh, I'm going to enjoy watching the recordings. Never before have I crafted such a monster, and with so much power! If only Kurosaki Ichigo was less sane, I would try to bring the two into a conflict, just to see what happens. And how much stronger the survivor would become! If he properly devoured the other, of course... tch. It's really too bad Kurosaki learned to control himself._

_I'm glad we got our hands on one of those Arrancar, it adds a whole new layer to the complexity, makes an ingenious plan a truly mind-boggling one. My satisfaction with the project could only be greater if it had been Granz himself, but still... it was a splendid success. _

_And I can always feed Granz to Secondary someday. And then, after Primary and Secondary have fought each other, the survivor can have that pathetic mentor of mine. Oh, now _that_ will be a day to remember..._


	33. Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

Urai awoke with a start, clutching at his heart.

He stared blankly at the sky for a moment, breathing hard, feeling the reassuring thump of his heartbeat against his fingers. It took several seconds for him to recover, and then he sat up, trying to remember what had been happening when the fit struck.

Looking around, however, made him wonder if he had, in fact, come out of his black trance at all.

He was on a building near the wall, the edge of Seireitei. He had been coming to help defend against a sudden rebellion, undoubtedly part of Caro's war against them. But it seemed... from the look of the battlefield, not only was the fighting over, but the entire battlefield had been leveled by some brutal strength. If a dozen people were fighting with bankais in a violent free-for-all, it could just about explain the damage... but that was the only thing Urai could come up with that could account for it.

"What happened here?" he breathed, looking from the destroyed wall, buildings, and landscape to the blood and bodies. The fighting couldn't have ended too long ago, as there were still bodies to be seen... but the sheer number of them staggered Urai. It looked like both the rebels from the Rukongai and the Divisions sent to suppress them had been massacred, almost completely.

Urai's head swam, and he shifted to a more stable position. Only with both hands firmly on the ground could he be sure he wasn't going to collapse again. Once the worst of the dizziness was past, he spared a hand to grab his bottle of medicine from an inner pocket.

It took him several minutes to recover, both from the blind terror of his collapse, and then the horrific sight that had awaited him upon awakening. Finally he rose, carefully watching for enemies as he did so, then hopped down into a street to minimize the chances of being seen.

If Seireitei had won the battle, there should have been Shinigami there, Fourth Division looking for survivors or performing emergency healing on the spot. What exactly it meant that there weren't, Urai wasn't willing to guess, but he had the distinct sense it wasn't safe here anymore. The enemy had breached the wall – best to remain below the radar until after some reconnaissance.

That reconnaissance proved his instinct correct. Fires burned throughout Seireitei; whether intentional or simply from buildings caught in the crossfire, it was impossible to tell. There seemed to be relatively little activity, though, aside from the occasional flash of kido or flare of reiatsu from a minor fight.

Again, Urai wished that there was someone to tell him what had happened. How had Caro's men gotten past the captains?

With nowhere else to go, Urai headed down into the sewers, but merely as a way to stay unnoticed on his way to his real hideaway. The secret training room in Sogyoku Hill. As far as he could tell, no one else ever went there. It'd be a good a place as any, and better then most, to re-center himself, plan out his next move.

.

The Communications Department night-shift in the Twelfth Division was abuzz with frantic energy, with conversation ranging from inane methods of regaining Seireitei, to if someone's cat was still alive, to if they were going to be besieged. Arguments were heated and largely due to the fact that no one had gotten any sleep lately in _addition_ to the sudden disaster.

"We can't use the butterflies, nitwit, they can't possibly tell the difference between one of Caro's Shinigami and one of ours! And telling Caro's men where we are is _not_ part of the plan!"

"They already know where we are, but our guys out there don't. Don't you see? It would merely be leveling the playing field."

"Aaand bring about another massacre, right on our doorstep. That's a _brilliant_ idea... idiot!"

Kaba Naoko, Junibantai Goseki, rounded on the room of jabbering fools, light glinting off _both_ his pairs of glasses.

"Alright, that DOES IT! Everyone, out. Butterflies are irrelevant. You, bring me coffee. You, tell the Captain I threw you all out. And you, _especially_ you, shut your babbling spout. No one cares about your cat!"

The staff froze. "Yes, Kaba Goseki," someone said meekly, and headed off to find coffee. The others slowly began to follow, though not without protests and ideas and the suggestion that they really did have something relevant to say aloud.

Kaba ignored them as best he could. He scribbled away busily until he reached the last line on his report, stuck his quill back behind his ear, and rose from the table just to slam both palms down hard on either side of the paper.

"This!" he declared fiercely. "Is absurd."

The room had recently been emptied, so no one was present to ask him the required follow-up question.

"We were already understaffed, and now there's war draining personnel..." he continued angrily. "I just don't see how we can continue to monitor everything. The Mender check-up is due soon and is anyone working on it? No!"

A staff member tiptoed back into the room, holding a mug of coffee. Kaba rounded on him, taking and setting down the coffee on the table in one swift movement.

"And you lot aren't any help at all! Call yourselves scientists, hah! At the end of the day, you're just stand-ins watching the computers while the real-"

"Sir, we never claimed to be scientists," the night-staff member protested. Kaba stopped mid-rant, thought for a moment, then nodded decisively.

"Right you are. Off you go, then."

He plunked down in a spinning chair, pushed off and then let himself drift for a moment. Then he slammed into the other side of the room, and hopped right back up again, eyes bright.

"Only one thing to do! Check the Mender myself. Easy. Simple solution, take it all one step at a time or you'll burn yourself out."

He was just downing his coffee in preparation when Urahara walked into the room. Kaba tried to greet his captain without putting down his coffee and ended up with a mouthful of hot coffee heading for his lungs.

Urahara waited out the coughing fit patiently. He was well aware of his fifth-seat's oddities, including a surprisingly frequent habit of accidentally inhaling his own coffee, but there were worse ways for a Twelfth Division officer to be odd.

"Captain," wheezed Kaba as soon as he was able.

"Kaba," Urahara replied, then pulled a chair out and sat down. For once, his manner was grim, and he got right to the point. "Akon says you had discovered something that might help explain Caro's takeover."

Kaba nodded, setting his coffee cup down again and swiveling to the station he had commandeered for his own use. "That's what I'm hoping, at any rate," he said, typing away furiously for a moment. Urahara peeked over at the screen and couldn't help rolling his eyes. Kaba was remotely controlling his personal computer again. Whoever used this particular station was in for some cleaning up when this was all over.

"Ah!" Kaba exclaimed, and a series of recordings appeared in a neat sequence. Urahara rolled closer. "I was able to get recordings from the participants in Project Inner Eye, or those that signed the continued-use form after Kurotsuchi was thrown out, at least..." He coughed into his hand awkwardly. "Anyway, I had them activated after the butterfly incident, which is another thing I need to give you my report on, but of course not now."

"You got recordings of Caro during the battle?" Urahara prompted, and Kaba nodded, smiling wolfishly. As Urahara eyed the paused video pointedly, he hurriedly added,

"Oh, but these aren't them. These are videos of Tadataka Yonseki _watching_ the videos that _I_ recorded, but hadn't gotten to yet."

"Now, Kaba, this is _not_ the time to make a play at getting Tadataka fired again."

"It's not that, I swear!" Kaba protested. "Though... no, not important. I may have had my station bugged because I suspected he was spying, but that's not why I bring it up." He played a segment of video, which Urahara noted had been modified to white-out Kaba's screen, then paused it and jabbed a finger.

"Directly after watching that, Tadataka tried to send a message via the butterflies, revealing the secret passageways into our compound."

There was a moment of silence. Urahara leaned back in his chair, playing with his hat.

"I'm assuming he failed? If he succeeded and I hadn't heard anything by now, there's something wrong with the Division's communication."

"He failed. The network was still locked down and the butterflies inactive. We've got him locked in one of Kurotsuchi's old labs; it was the only place we had on hand that could double as a prison."

Urahara hmmed, tucking his hands into his sleeves. "So... Caro was somehow able to get into Tadataka's head from a recording... through someone else's eyes."

"It certainly strengthens the visual hypnotism theory," Kaba said, typing as he spoke to get access to various reports on the subject. "It's a shame we can't risk watching the recordings ourselves... it could prove most educational. As it is, all we have to go on are second-hand reports and third-hand videos."

"We'll just have to make due with those, then," declared Urahara, voice cheerful once more. "The very fact that Tadataka was affected like he was from a simple recording is a piece of the puzzle we didn't have before. Good work, Kaba-kun."

Kaba adjusted his glasses smugly, then plugged a flashdrive into the computer he had been using. His virus would wreck havoc on the system, but any trails he had created back to his personal computer would be thoroughly destroyed by the end. After picking up his folder and clipboard, he looked at Urahara questioningly.

"With your permission, Captain, I was just going to go look over the Mender data. Is there anything specific you need me to do before then?"

Urahara waved a hand. "No, no, go ahead. Though be ready to put it on pause immediately if something new comes up. We're in the middle of an emergency, the Mender can wait if needed."

"A matter of opinion!" Kaba muttered indignantly as he swept out of the room.

.

Ichigo sat on the roof of his office, thinking.

It was driving him crazy.

_You and the Old Man are ganging up on me again, Ichigo, and it's really not fair this time. I'm right this time, and you both know it! Why does that snake suddenly mean so much to you, anyway?!_

"I don't know," whispered Ichigo, glaring at the First Division barracks. Had Caro faced Kyoraku yet? A tinge of worry came over him. Maybe he should head over there and see, just in case...

_I turn my back for one second, _one second_, and you go switching sides on me. Tch. And now I, and consider for a moment the great sacrifice I'm making for the good of _everyone_ by doing it, have to be the voice of reason among the three of us. Does this not feel wrong to anyone else?_

_Yes_, replied Ichigo, subdued and extremely ill at ease. He clenched his hand, staring at it as if it didn't belong to him anymore. It felt wrong. It _was_ wrong. Caro was the enemy. He was turning everyone on one another.

Yet Ichigo knew he was no longer capable of fighting that enemy. From now on, Caro could call the shots, and Ichigo knew he'd be helpless to disobey. Shiro throwing a temper tantrum wasn't going to change that.

This round went to Caro. Ichigo could only pray, and suffer a twinge of guilt for it, that at least some of the captains had escaped being ensnared as well...


	34. Interlude 15

Interlude

Thoughts of a General.

_Any initial ideas that I could work with this man were terribly misguided. All that talk of mutual loyalty comes to nothing. He throws away the lives of those that follow him as if they were nothing, just like Aizen. Loyalty is a word he uses often, but I have come to wonder if he has experienced true loyalty, true devotion, even once in his life._

_My fellow generals are, as far as I can tell, in the same situation as I. Tied to Caro with a false loyalty that they cannot escape. We, at least, seem to be important enough pieces for him to keep around long-term, though what the end result will be, I can't guess. Death, most likely. But would that be so bad? There may be no artificial intelligence and short-cut through reincarnation waiting to get me out of this the easy way, but my soul would live on. No memory of this lie of a war we fight..._

_A peaceful takeover of Seireitei, indeed. Peaceful - perhaps, at least more then one might expect. Takeover, definitely - but not a change of government, not a reorganization of Seireitei from the ground up, like he implied. Just one added position, right above everyone else. He staged a battle... started a war... just as a smoke-screen._

_That's what the lives of his followers are worth to him. Smoke on the wind._


	35. Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen

It was only when no one had the energy to lift themselves from the sand that the impromptu free-for-all training session came to an end. To push one's self beyond the limits of one's endurance, one usually requires outside encouragement, and when _both_ combatants finally collapse in pitiful wheezing heaps, that's the end of it.

Herald, Edward, Yylfordt, Erina, and Kitsune were all still down in the basement, either unconscious where they had fallen or trying to be, when Ryohime came to.

She sat up, wondering how long she had been unconscious. Her injuries had been healed, she noted, so either their combined efforts _had_ locked away the black Hollow Dikayumi was becoming... or they had failed, and at least Erina or Kitsune had survived. Ryohime thought they must have succeeded, considering the building was still standing, though her friends' reiatsu down below did seem rather weak.

She got up carefully, then, convinced she was back in fighting order, and headed for the basement to see what was going on.

Kitsune was the only one who had the energy left to wave at her as she hopped down nearby.

"He-ey, nice to see you're up and about."

"What happened to everyone?" asked Ryohime, eyeing the Bakudos some distance away. The many layers made it impossible to see inside, but they were clearly intact, which was a good sign.

"We trained," grunted Edward, who was lying face-first in the sand. "All day."

Ryohime raised her eyebrows in surprise. "But Herald is here."

Herald groaned at her. Edward translated.

"We were feeling out of practice, so we decided to keep going until we dropped. Now we've dropped, and we're staying here."

"School?"

"Mod-souls can go."

"Patrolling?"

"That's what you're for."

Ryohime couldn't help but smile. "Fine, then. Though it seems you could be training your endurance now."

Edward looked sideways at her with a blank expression. She laughed aloud at his sand-covered mess of hair, usually brushed over just so. He grumbled incoherently at her and went limp in the sand again.

On the surface Karakura felt calm, a nice change from recent days... had it been days? Ryohime wasn't entirely sure what day it even was anymore and it confused everything. The morning was un-interrupted, though... she couldn't even sense any common Hollows hanging around. They had probably been scared away by the intense reiatsus that had been active lately. To some degree, Hollows were attracted by strong reiatsu... but there was a point when Hollows stopped trying to eat you and just got out of the way.

It was around midday by the time Ryohime sensed action. A Garganta, from the feel of it, which immediately put her on guard. She released Muramasa and asked him to warn the others that there might be another skirmish, then jumped off in the direction of the Garganta.

It wasn't much of a group this time, and from the feel of it Caro himself wasn't even present, so Ryohime thought that, for once, they might be in luck. Two figures stood in the opening of the Garganta, and as she drew closer Ryohime saw the smaller of the two actually turn and go back through before it closed again, leaving his companion alone.

A moment later, though, she jumped close enough to recognize that one figure, and her optimism drained away. It was the mad, animalistic Vasto Lorde _thing_ Caro had brought last time.

It was standing on the air, looking down at Karakura Town as if trying to find its first target. Ryohime gritted her teeth; defending Karakura from collateral damage would be _very_ difficult against such a powerful opponent. Fighting it alone, the battle would undoubtedly be long, drawn out... if she could even match it. Steve. For this particular battle, she needed Steve.

Muramasa stepped out of the air by her side, eyeing their opponent carefully.

"The others are in poor shape for a fight, they would have likely been more of a hindrance then a help."

Ryohime moistened her lips nervously, tightening her hold on her Zanpakuto's hilt. "We'll just have to take that thing ourselves, then. Ready?"

Muramasa flexed his fingers, his long, sharp fingernails clicking dangerously. "On your mark."

"Then let's go!"

The two seemed to vanish, Ryohime flash-stepping and Muramasa phasing in and out of reality as only he could. The Hollow whirled on them the moment they moved, as if it had been waiting for just that. Ryohime almost didn't see it when the Hollow Sonido'd towards her, but the blur of movement was just enough so she could jump awkwardly out of the way. One of the needle-like spikes sticking out of the creature's skin slashed her arm as it passed, and she let out a hiss of pain. The Hollow turned, skidding backwards through the air at the speed of its Sonido, but before it could charge Ryohime again Muramasa appeared behind it, driving his hand dagger-like into it's back.

The Hollow screeched that reverberating Hollow screech, whirling on Muramasa and backhanding him before the latter could react. The force of the blow sent Muramasa flying backwards, though he phased out of reality before he hit anything. Ryohime flashed above the Hollow and dropped down towards it silently, but it sensed her presence and jumped nimbly out of the way, grabbing her by the arm and flinging her with insane strength straight into the nearest roof.

Something cracked when Ryohime hit, though what it was (besides the roof) Ryohime couldn't tell. Pain hit a moment after, making the world flicker before her eyes. She gasped for breath, levering herself out of the wreckage...

The Hollow appeared directly above her, tail lashing, and pointed at her with deadly authority as an unsteady, jagged cero began forming on its fingertip. Ryohime had the chance to think, _This building has people in it!,_ before her own hands were raised, the strongest Bakudo she could think of flashing through her mind. _There's no time to do the chant._

"Bakudo no-"

The cero hit.

_Ryohime!_

Ryohime flung herself out of the blast, dropping to the ground and hastily rolling to smother the flames destroying her robes. Her skin was red with burns, but she simply gritted her teeth past the pain and flash-stepped away, trying to gain some distance.

Muramasa appeared next to her again, holding her Zanpakuto. She had lost hold of it in the building. "I was able to get a brief connection with his mind," he said as Ryohime hastily took her empty Zanpakuto back. "Just a moment, but I think he is actually more like an Arrancar then he is a lower Hollow. There is more in there then instinct."

Ryohime frowned, changing direction abruptly as the Hollow tried to intercept her. "That's hard to believe. Do you think it... is this his release form, an Arrancar Zanpakuto merge? Something you can work with?"

"It's worth a shot."

They had already determined that Muramasa did indeed hold some sway over Arrancars' Zanpakutos, their Resurreccións. Not nearly as much as with the more personified Zanpakuto spirits of Shinigami, but there had been far less of a chance to practice. This, however, would be their first _real _attempt under pressure. The fight at Seireitei had moved too fast for them.

Ryohime took a deep breath.

"Alright, I'll distract him."

Muramasa nodded and vanished, and Ryohime immediately began building a double incantation on the run. She was wary of clashing with that Hollow again head on; their brief exchange had been entirely one-sided. It screamed again, a kind of impatient roar, and a wave of reiatsu washed over the area. Ryohime missed a step, her Shunpo slipping for just a moment, but the Hollow noticed her and charged, rapidly closing the distance. Its gait was strange, it transitioned smoothly from running normally to a sprint on all fours, and back again.

The double incantation caught it a heartbeat from reaching Ryohime, a pair of Bakudos for restraint and immobilization. Ryohime hopped back away from its outstretched claw, instinctively slamming it in the face with a Byakurai kido.

It hardly seemed to notice, save for snarling. Ryohime hadn't had the chance to really see the creature up close before, but now, trapped as it was in her Bakudos, she had that opportunity. And, instantly, she felt guilty for that reactive Byakurai.

Everything about this Hollow was broken, and cracked, and sewn back together. It's hole looked like it had been torn out by hand, with a long jagged tear on one side. It didn't have a proper mask, at all, rather two cracked, broken halves from clearly different Hollows stuck together. She could see dead-white skin between the broken edges, with veins of an unnatural yellow sticking out dramatically.

It was an abomination, and Ryohime couldn't help but feel sorry for it. A lot of Hollows were victims of fate, anyway... this was pushing that misfortune to a level that seemed entirely, inhumanly cruel.

Even as she looked her enemy in the face for the first time, she was chanting additional Bakudos to supplement the ones she had. It had been a matter of luck that she had caught the Hollow at all, and she wasn't convinced she could do it again if it got out. Even now it was struggling against the kido ties, cracking and tearing them with brute force.

Muramasa needed time, though, to get into whatever inner world or Arrancar equivalent this monster might have. It made more sense now, seeing that broken mask, that the Hollow could be closer to an Arrancar, but Ryohime wondered what Muramasa would actually find it there. Making a Zanpakuto rebel wasn't an end-all for Shinigami if they practiced all the forms of fighting, and it wouldn't be for this beast either. They could keep it from becoming even more powerful, but dealing with it as it was... wasn't going to be easy, either way.

Her introspection cost her. Her concentration broke for just a moment, and the Bakudo fizzled away to nothing. With a curse she flashed away, hearing the final cracks as the Hollow smashed its restraints. It roared in angry triumph, and before Ryohime could build up enough speed to get away it intercepted her, yanking her out of the air by the throat. Ryohime choked, slashing at the Hollow's arm, but her empty Zanpakuto didn't even break the hierro.

The Hollow dragged her close and roared in her face, it's mad eyes glowing yellow. _Hurry, Muramasa!_

As if summoned by her thoughts (and in fact he probably was) Muramasa appeared again behind the Hollow, his expression clouded. Ryohime felt her hand tighten around air as her Zanpakuto vanished, reappearing in Muramasa's own hands.

The Hollow sensed his presence and was halfway through a turn when Muramasa plunged the Zanpakuto into its chest. It's claw loosened and Ryohime slipped down into open air. Muramasa flashed through the air and caught her, once again pressing her Zanpakuto back into her hands.

"It's time, Ryohime," he said grimly. "Our opponent is Vance."


	36. Interlude 16

Interlude

.

The thoughts of a General.

.

_I wonder if I could have saved Aizen-sama._

_Caro ruined everything._

_We were all ready for it. He knew imprisonment was a possibility, and we had trained so dedicatedly for the sole purpose of breaking him out if that possibility became a reality. None of the others were powerful enough at the time to be his Espada, and I had no purpose, not after... leaving Seireitei. We were second-hand followers, perhaps, but we were prepared to do our job._

_Aizen-sama... did some terrible things. I can't deny it, but he saved me from a life in a lab at the Twelfth Division. For that, I owe, owed, him more then I could ever repay. Even now I can't feel anything but thankfulness to him for what he did. Others would probably call it manipulation, and say he never cared about any of us as anything but tools. I agree, he never cared about us as people, but he _got me out_._

_Caro got me back in._

_Working side by side with Kurotsuchi Mayuri, whose very existence is a crime against life, burns me. Physically. I still have the scars where his experiments set me on fire from the inside, and I can feel the flames again every time I see him._

_I may be a simple person to see it this way, but I do. Anyone who works with Kurotsuchi is my enemy. And, one day, I will kill Caro for bringing that scum back into my life._

_One day._


	37. Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

Steve arrived just in time to see a pale yellow cero completely decimate a random apartment building wall.

Ryohime wasn't doing well.

"Sway, Ningyōzukai!"

He had fought this Hollow before; it was a relatively easy one to control, and this time it didn't have its vile master around to help. Should be a simple enough battle once Steve entangled him in his Zanpakuto's strings...

"Nakamaru Fukotaichou!"

Steve whirled, for a moment feeling a sudden surge of panic. One of Caro's red-cloaked minions was standing behind him, Zanpakuto drawn... but then he relaxed, recognizing the newcomer's reiatsu.

"Sanseki," he said in relief, then scowled. "Don't sneak up on me like that. Just because you're ninja-trained..."

Sanseki ignored the light-hearted banter. "I came back as quickly as I could. The infiltration was a success, but it seems Caro beat me to the punch. He already has minions among the Fourteenth Division."

Steve froze. "W-What? No, that can't be."

"At least one, maybe more, of your companions have already been turned to Caro's side," Sanseki repeated grimly. "The only one I'm sure of is Kurosaki Ryohime. Apparently Caro encountered her alone one night, and ensnared her then."

"Impossible," breathed Steve, but a twinge of doubt tugged at him. Hadn't he heard, from Lilynette or Herald maybe, that Ryohime had indeed met with Caro? They had all assumed she had gotten away unscathed... but how would they know?

"No, she can't be," he said finally, shaking his head. "If she was one of his men, why hasn't she acted against us yet? The others were training all day yesterday, and through the night. They're in the basement now, exhausted... if she had wanted them dead there won't be any better moment. But she's up here, fighting that Hollow..."

Instead of looking encouraged, Sanseki's face paled. In a low, serious tone he asked, "In the basement... with that Black Hollow?"

.

Herald was napping when he heard the crack. In his sleep he disregarded it as unimportant, at least until Lilynette came running through the canyon he was exploring and knocked him to the ground, glaring at him.

_Wake up! The Bakudos are breaking!_

Herald looked longingly at the tea-shop up ahead, and the publisher waiting inside for his draft. "What are you talking about? There aren't any Bakudos."

_You're dreaming, Starrk, and if you don't get off your lazy behind right _now_ you're going to get chomped in your sleep. So get _up_!_

With that, she bit his ear in the dream and Herald jerked awake, yelping in pain. He was back in the basement, his fellows sprawled all over the sand... and the persistent cracking on a Bakudo barrier on the other side of the chamber being smashed to pieces from the inside.

_Told you._

There was a loud roar as Dikayumi's Hollow smashed through the last of the barriers they had locked him in, and the basement was flooded with black reiatsu. Herald's spine prickled, and he could swear Lilynette, despite being invisible, had just put her ears back and shown all her teeth. He grabbed his Zanpakuto.

"Walk with me, Lilynette!"

It was no longer, strictly, necessary for him to release his Zanpakuto manually. Lilynette came at the slightest thought, and often showed up anyway when he _didn't_ call for her. Nevertheless, the proper release made them both feel more... ready for battle. This wasn't a walk they were going on, this was a fight.

"Don't give it to the dog, I'm not done with it!" yelled Edward suddenly, sitting up desperately. He looked around, blinking the sleep from his eyes, and looked at Herald in confusion.

"Their barriers are all down," Herald explained. "Dikayumi's out."

For a moment, it seemed Edward didn't quite pick up on what that meant. Then understanding dawned.

"Oh."

They both considered the others, still exhausted and out cold. Edward looked back at Herald.

"I'll try and get them out of here. Can you stall him?"

Herald patted Lilynette's ears.

"We can certainly give it a try. Go on, the sooner the others are clear, the better!"

With that, he and Lilynette flashed across the huge basement, towards the corner where they had cornered and locked away the Hollow Dikayumi had become.

The Black Hollow appeared to have taken over completely; apparently Dikayumi had been unable to wrestle his inner darkness into submission during his capture. The resulting Hollow was entirely comprised of black bone, with Dikayumi's black hair grown to an insane length behind him. Patterns wound up his arms, a darker black against dark skin, and his white Quincy uniform was in complete tatters, hanging like white ribbons from his wrists and shoulders, waist and ankles.

When they had first fought, the Black Hollow's mask had been only partially formed. Now it was complete, and there was no conflict in those burning teal eyes. Herald felt a surge of regret. It seemed Dikayumi had truly succumbed. He might still be in there somewhere, but the Hollow was stronger.

That Black Hollow now eyed Herald and Lilynette murderously, hissing through his black teeth. Lilynette snarled back, defiantly meeting the Hollow's glare with one of her own.

_Nakamaru Edward, you'd better clear this room,_ thought Herald wearily as the pressure spiked. _Quickly._

_._

Ryohime steadied herself, forcing her tumultuous emotions down. Her chest ached at the very thought of Vance, and her hands trembled at what was ahead... but she couldn't afford to let that distract her. Muramasa was convinced they could still save him, and Ryohime knew she no longer had any choice. She had to do it.

It was either that, or lose Vance for good.

She stood alone, her Zanpakuto held firmly in front of her. Her heart was hammering, and for a long moment she could hardly get the words out. It was only when the horrible Hollow – all that was left of Vance - screamed at her again, charging another deadly cero on his finger, that she managed, in a whisper, to get those long-dreaded words out.

"Bankai."

Her reiatsu spiked, visible flurries of fiery teal reiatsu lashing around her. The hilt of her Zanpakuto seemed to grow warmer in her hands.

"Kodoku Muramasa."


	38. Interlude 17

Interlude

.

The thoughts of a Hollow.

.

_Whispers._

_Hearing whispers. _

_I know that voice..._

_How do I know that voice? It's not him... not... the one that must be obeyed. Ah! Was that him? Stop it! Make it stop!_

_So many voices..._

_So much pain!_

_They all hate me. I wish I could kill them, like I can kill anyone else. They're so loud in my head. So angry. They make me angry, too. Everything is anger, and pain..._

_Except..._

_That voice?_

_Who _is_ that? _

_Is this another test? Is he watching? _

_Am I failing again?! Don't punish me again! I'll kill them! I will! Just don't..._

_Shut up! All of you... talking over me... confusing me..._

_What is that voice?!_

_I know that voice... just be quiet! Let me listen. Think... think... where have I..._

_Don't think!_

_Thinking makes him mad. I can't afford to make him mad. _

_Whoever is whispering to me needs to die. He cannot scare me. Fear died._

_So why am I so afraid? All the time?_

_Stop talking._

_NO! Not this time. Muramasa! Can you hear me?! Can you here me over all their voices? I'm still here! I'm still..._

_Stop talking._

_Stop thinking!_

_It's not my place to think. Kill... he said to kill. So kill._

_..._

_Please..._

_..._

_... save me, Murama-_

_**KILL HER!**_


	39. Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

Kodoku Muramasa stood in the midst of a storm of reiatsu, the wind whipping around him violently. This was not the Muramasa Ryohime knew, the one she had grown up holding the hand of. This... was someone new.

Someone who terrified her.

Kodoku's eyes burned, a pale bluish fire deep inside that flickered and flared. Blood pooled in his eyes like tears on the verge of falling, his expression was grim and dark. His robe was black, trimmed with purple, and broken shackles hung from his gaunt wrists. He raised one hand, chains clinking, and outstretched his fingers, his blood-red fingernails. The entire world seemed to turn dark, and Ryohime shivered. Suddenly, all was very still.

Chains appeared in the air. Ghostly, incorporeal, but Ryohime sensed they represented something very, very real.

There were chains around her, circling her arms, legs, her throat. They trailed off into the air and seemed to vanish, but she knew they were the same chains that had appeared around Kodoku. Except... most of his chains did run in her direction, but one, very faint, seemed to trail off into nowhere. And, looking down at herself, Ryohime noticed a faint pair around her ankles that also seemed to disappear into nothingness.

Ryohime looked warily at the Hollow and suddenly realized that time had stopped, at least for them. Rubble hung in midair behind it, _him,_ and he was frozen mid-Sonido. Underneath that, though, she could see the ghostly chains that encircled him, the brightest of them so tightly wound around his throat that, had they been real, he'd be dead by now. Looking even closer, Ryohime thought she could see ghostly hands, dozens of them, clawing at the chains in a desperate but futile effort to break free.

"Save him, ple-" she began, turning to face her Bankai spirit. Her words caught in her throat as their eyes meet.

Kodoku Muramasa looked at her, his expression the coldest Ryohime had ever seen. A bloody tear trickled down his face, creating a strange visual contrast of sorrow and hatred.

"Is that what you think I do?" he said quietly, and Ryohime shivered again. She heard Muramasa in that voice. _Her_ Muramasa. But he was looking at her like... like he could barely stand the sight of her.

Against her will, tears rose in her eyes.

"Who are you?" she whispered, a lump rising in her throat. Kodoku Muramasa closed his fingers around the air, drawing his Zanpakuto out of nowhere.

"I am abandoned," he replied, looking from Ryohime to their opponent. "I am isolation."

He walked past her as if she wasn't even there. Ryohime clenched her teeth, trying to keep the sob that was making her throat ache swallowed. She didn't turn.

There was a clang of metal on metal, and suddenly the vast silence of that frozen world was broken by a scream of pain... and sudden heartache. Ryohime closed her eyes, her lips trembling.

_Never again._

"I tear apart what never should be torn apart," Kodoku whispered, and Ryohime heard him perfectly even from this distance. "And what I tear apart, no one will ever repair."

_I am never using Bankai again._

"He will never again speak with his past."

Another scream.

_Muramasa! Come back!_

"Is this what you meant by saving him?"

"Stop it," Ryohime whispered, her hands clenched so tightly her fingers were turning white. "You're not Muramasa. Muramasa isn't cruel..."

"You know me better then that," he replied in that cold, familiar voice. Muramasa's voice... "You try to ignore it, you tried to teach me to ignore it, but my existence is cruelty itself." There was no warmth at all in his voice, none of the caring Muramasa had shown her since she was little. Then, bitterly, "It is done."

.

Ryohime opened her eyes, face wet with tears, to find the world was once more sunlit and clear. Her hand jerked, almost involuntarily, and she dropped her sealed Zanpakuto like it was a snake.

Then she sensed a weak, familiar reiatsu, and she looked up, her heart leaping. The Hollow was still crouched nearby on all fours, shaking its head and snarling darkly. It wasn't the Hollow, however, that had caught her attention, but the dark-haired figure plummeting towards the ground below it...

She flashed through the air, diving recklessly. He looked so small, his reiatsu flickering so very weakly...

She almost misjudged her dive, almost missed him. As he fell past her she reached out and just barely got hold of his arm, and their momentum nearly carried them into the corner of a building. Ryohime paused to steady herself, then dropped to the ground carefully. The moment they hit the ground, she leaned over Vance to search for injuries.

He was unconscious, his skin dreadfully pale and covered in new, partially healed scars, but she could still sense that flicker of life. There didn't seem to be anything life-threateningly wrong with him, though, so for the first time in what seemed like forever, Ryohime thought Vance would be alright.

A new, dangerous reiatsu interrupted her relief, and Ryohime automatically reached for her Zanpakuto. Too late, she realized she had no idea where it was; she had dropped it from the sky and wasn't sure where it had landed. She hastily picked up Vance again and ran into the nearest alley she could find, hoping the narrow walls would help hide them.

Vance's reiatsu was weak; he probably wouldn't draw any attention from whatever new enemies had arrived. Ryohime laid him down, wishing she could take him back to Kitsune's and get some help, but there were other, more immediate problems.

"Stay alive until I get back, Vance," she whispered, looking at him anxiously, then turned and jumped back up into the sky. She had to find where she had been standing, find Muramasa...

The memory of the cold, embittered voice of her Bankai nearly stopped her in her tracks. She shook her head, clenching her teeth against the feeling of betrayal that threatened to choke her.

Muramasa was still there, he had to be. He hadn't changed when she had first learned the name of her Bankai... just because she could potentially call it up didn't mean it replaced him forever. Kodoku was gone, and Muramasa would be back. Her old, caring Muramasa.

Then suddenly there was a titanic clash of reiatsus, so much of one that Ryohime's breath caught in her throat. She glanced around to discovered the source of the conflict... and her eyes widened in horror.

The Black Hollow had somehow gotten out of the others' control, and it had apparently determined Caro's Hollow was the biggest immediate threat. The two flashed about in the sky, engaged in the most brutal battle Ryohime had ever witnessed. Ceros roared, Hollows screamed, and blood flew as they ripped mercilessly at one another.

"Ryohime!"

Herald. He and Lilynette were hot on the heels of the Black Hollow, though Herald was wearing that expression that meant he'd rather be anywhere else. Ryohime immediately ran to join them.

"Lilynette, can you find Muramasa?" she asked, and Lilynette nodded. Herald frowned as she bounded off.

"You lost Muramasa?"

"It's complicated," Ryohime said evasively, then gestured at the battling Hollows. "What's going on, how did Dikayumi get free?"

"Broke the barriers," Herald grunted. "Come on, we've got to go help him before he gets himself killed. And then stop him from killing us..."

.

Steve was too late. He had felt the crack, felt the Black Hollow break out of its prison, and moments later it arrowed right past him, back towards Ryohime, Sanseki, and Caro's Hollow. Herald and Lilynette were right on its heels, passing him even as he tried to make chase, and so Steve arrived back at the combat site last (out of breath and more then a little grouchy) to find everyone fighting everyone... except Sanseki, who looked almost as conflicted as Steve felt.

"I wish I had more hands," Steve growled, flashing past Sanseki towards the two battling Hollows, and Herald and Ryohime dancing around trying to get between them. "Everyone needs to just stop moving for a minute!"

He threw out his hands, fingers outstretched, and grabbed at the Hollows. The closer he was to the intended victim, the easier it would be to capture them, but he wasn't getting anywhere near that battle. The others were taking their lives into their hands, trying to interfere like that.

The first few attempts slid off the Hollows, like an arrow deflecting off a shield, but finally something caught. Steve felt his powers snap into pace, his hand tensing as the Black Hollow jerked to a stop, like a dog suddenly reaching the end of the leash mid-leap. The Black Hollow screeched angrily, but as much as it strained it couldn't break free.

Steve tightened his fingers, concentrating on just keeping the Hollow still. His other hand lashed out again, and Caro's Hollow was next to come to an unexpected stop. To control both Hollows at the same time was almost more then Steve could manage. He bore down on them, simply trying to lock them in place.

"Herald, Ryohime!" he called tensely, sincerely hoping Sanseki was wrong in his suspicions. "Kill Caro's, quick! I can't... keep them both under control for long."

Herald and Lilynette immediately leapt for the paralyzed Hollow, but then Ryohime stopped. Her face twisted in shock and fear; she whirled, flash-stepping away towards...

Sanseki?

"Kurosa-?!"

Sanseki raised his own Zanpakuto just in time, stopped Ryohime's blade inches from his throat. Steve's concentration wavered, and the invisible puppet-strings of one hand snapped abruptly. Lilynette yelped in pain as Caro's Hollow suddenly burst back into motion, whacking her out of the air mid-jump. Herald reached it a moment later, completely severing one arm with a swift, savage slash before it rounded on him.

"Kurosaki-san, stop!"

Steve hardly knew where to look. He kept his one hand in a tight fist, hanging on desperately to the Black Hollow's actions, but his other hand wavered uncertainly. Herald and Lilynette had been caught by surprise, but at least there were two of them. Sanseki was barely keeping up with Ryohime – she wasn't holding back at all. He impulsively made his decision the moment Ryohime began calling out, "Whisper-!"

"Ryohime, enough!" he yelled, closing his fingers and drawing the strings of power tight. She grunted, her concentration shattered as his power caught her mid-release.

"Let me go!" she yelled, glaring. "What do you think you're doing?!"

Sanseki retreated, breathless, his Zanpakuto raised wardingly. He and Steve exchanged a glance.

"Protecting my allies," Steve replied, though it pained him to say it. Ryohime had been an ally for over a year, but now... it seemed hard that she had to have been the one to get caught by Caro.

"He's the enemy!" she retorted, genuine fury tinging her words. "Let me go, Steve, before he tries to kill someone else!"

Sanseki looked confused. "What are you talking about? Kurosaki-san, I'm _not_ their enemy, and I haven't tried to kill anyone. I stand with Seireitei. _You're_ the traitor here."

Ryohime's reiatsu flared, and Steve felt a sudden burst of energy that threatened to snap his control. In that instant he realized he was about to lose control if he continued to divide his attention.

"Herald, stop Ryohime from doing something we'll all regret!" he cried, then let his strings on her relax, transferring all his attention to keeping the Black Hollow under control. Ryohime vanished in a flash-step, and Sanseki noticeably tensed... but Ryohime was intercepted by Herald before she ever reached him. Their Zanpakutos and reiatsu clashed violently. Steve glanced at Caro's Hollow, but Lilynette was distracting it successfully, for now.

"Calm down, Ryohime!" Herald exclaimed, pushing Ryohime back, sword-to-sword. "I don't know what's going on, or what he means by 'you're the traitor', but you did attack him first. What's the matter?"

"What's the matter... with me? " she exclaimed. "What's wrong with all of you?! He's one of Caro's men, just look at him!"

"No, he's not!" retorted Steve, his arms trembling from the exertion of holding back the furious Black Hollow. "He's from the Second Division, he was going undercover to gain information on Caro. But you _know_ him, Ryohime! He's been here for days."

"_What?!_" Ryohime jumped back, half-crouched. She had a look in her eye like a cornered animal. "Steve... Herald... he attacked you both! How can you defend him?!"

"Stand down, Ryohime!" Herald said firmly. "We can get to the bottom of this, but you need to stop trying to kill him first! We can talk this over..."

"It's no use, Yamichi Fukutaichou," said Sanseki grimly. "She's been under Caro's control since the other night, when she encountered him alone."

_I remember that,_ Lilynette called, still harrowing Caro's Hollow. _But why-_

"Ryohime! Drop. Your. Sword." Herald insisted.

For a moment, Ryohime hesitated. Then, abruptly, she flash-stepped again, this time diving down towards the streets. "Keep those Hollows under control!" Herald yelled at Steve, then followed.

.

Herald jumped down into the alley, his eyes widening at the sight of Vance lying unconscious on the asphalt. Ryohime was breathing hard as she stood over him, and Herald found himself unsure what she intended to do.

"Ryohime... don't do something foolish," he said, trying to speak calmly. Ryohime raised her Zanpakuto and Herald tensed, ready to jump forward... but she just thrust it into the air, the blade disappearing right to the hilt.

"Bakudo no hachiju-ichi!" she exclaimed, and a translucent barrier filled the alley between herself and Herald. Then she crouched, snaking an arm hastily under Vance's limp shoulders. "Open!"

"No, wait!"

A Senkaimon opened in the air in front of her. Herald wasn't sure what she was planning, but he didn't like that look in her eyes. She looked desperate, and scared... capable of anything. He jumped to the roof, vaulted over the top of the barrier and back down... but the gates were already closing behind her. "Ryohime, wait!"

The Senkaimon vanished, right under his fingertips.

Ryohime and Vance were gone.


	40. Interlude 18

Interlude

_Ryohime felt a surge of relief when Herald and Steve arrived on the scene. She was tired, very tired, and she couldn't fight two Hollows at the same time. Herald was the strongest of all of them, and Steve's unique ability to ensnare enemies and puppet their actions would be invaluable. _

_Between the three of them, they might just scrap out a victory._

_Hardly had Ryohime thought this then a stranger, wearing Caro's colors, appeared in a flicker of green in the air behind Steve. Ryohime started. That wasn't Sonido or Shunpo, it was like nothing she had ever seen before. Before any of them could react, he had slashed his raised Zanpakuto down across Steve's back._

_For a moment, Ryohime thought he must have missed. Steve hardly seemed phased, in fact he basically ignored the man and began taking control of the fighting Hollows. Ryohime hesitated, wondering if the enemy would attack again, but he simply vanished. Steve finished seizing control of the Hollows and called out for Ryohime and Herald to finish off Caro's monster._

_That's when the enemy struck again, taking advantage of Herald's distraction to stab him in the back. Ryohime screamed – she couldn't help it. The sword speared right through her friend's chest, it was impossible to mistake that for a miss._

_And yet Herald, too, hardly seemed to notice it. He stumbled, yes, then caught himself and continued on as if nothing had happened._

_That was when Ryohime turned and attacked the newcomer. And that was when Steve and Herald turned on her._

_They knew this man? They expected _her_ to know this man? How could they possibly ignore the fact that he had just tried to kill them both? Why were they going to such lengths to protect him...?_


	41. Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-One 

Vance woke up, wondering if it had all been simply a miserable nightmare.

The sun was bright overhead, and it seemed to him he must be somewhere very peaceful. A bird fluttered past high above, and he could hear other birds singing nearby.

Then he sat up, and caught sight of his legs. Phantom pain suddenly surged through him as he caught sight of the half-healed cuts, the holes where needles had sunk to, and through, the bone. For a memory, the pain was so real and fierce it made him feel nauseated.

He doubled over, eyes closed and arms wrapped around himself, until the pain subsided somewhat. At the same time, the nightmare he was sure he had just woken out of seemed to fade, the details blurring. He felt sure it had something to do with an arena, and Ryohime-

Vance bolted upright again, realizing for the first time that he was sensing Ryohime's reiatsu dimly, just barely enough to identify. He looked around properly, thinking he would be able to get a better fix on her location, only to find that she was lying hardly ten yards away, sprawled out as if she had simply fallen out of the air.

But her reiatsu felt so far away...

He crawled over to her side, alarm shooting through him. "Ryohime! Are you alright?" He shook her lightly, checked her pulse.

Still alive... and apparently not injured, though her robes looked badly burned. So why did her reiatsu feel so very weak?

The essential questions asked, his nausea passed, Vance began considering the less important details. _Where _are_ we? How did we get here? What day is it, even?_

He had the sense that days had passed he couldn't quite remember. The last thing he _could_ remember clearly was going to school one morning with Ryohime... and that event seemed very long ago, indeed. Now he and Ryohime were in a field somewhere, Ryohime unconscious and Vance himself had been the same until just recently.

And he was scarred. Badly. And yet... he couldn't remember how he had gotten hurt. It was like a word on the tip of his tongue, the knowledge of where he had gotten so many injuries. The memories just slipped away like ice.

He looked back at Ryohime, and was surprised to see her cheeks were glistening with tears. Crying in her sleep? Ryohime was crying?

"Ryohime?" he whispered, reaching out to nudge her shoulder. "Wake up."

She stirred, blinked a few times and sighed... then jerked upright, eyes wide. She stared at him like he was a ghost.

"You're still alive!" she exclaimed, then grunted in pain and fell back to the ground. Vance started, unsure what to do but convinced he could do something, but he had hardly touched her when she sat back up, breathing raggedly.

"What's wrong?" he asked, and she shook her head.

"I... don't really know. I feel kind of sick." She took a deep breath. "Don't worry, it was just a moment. More importantly, how are you? Feeling... yourself?"

Vance frowned. "Yeah? I mean, what else would I feel like?"

"Nothing," replied Ryohime, a little too quickly for Vance's liking. She stood up slowly, looking around with a bewildered expression. "Where are we?"

"Not a clue. To be honest, I was kind of hoping you could fill me in on what's been going on. I can't seem to put my finger on anything that's happened in the last... I don't even know how long. When was the last time we went to school?"

Ryohime chuckled bitterly. "A long time ago, it seems. So you don't remember anything that happened?"

"No... not properly." Vance looked down at himself, his tattered Shinigami robes, the still-red scars. Something inside him lurched painfully, and his next question was very subdued. "What happened to me?"

Ryohime took a long time to reply. And when she did, it was only to say, "I can't tell you yet. I don't know _how_ to tell you yet. In fact, I don't remotely know..." She took a shuddering breath, then brushed her robes off, suddenly businesslike once more. "Right, we should be somewhere in Seireitei, though where exactly I don't know. My Senkaimon was hurried, and I don't remember where the-"

Her voice faltered, and Vance saw a look of sudden horror cross her face. She rounded on him suddenly, as if to reassure herself of his presence, then looked around them with the same desperate air.

"What is it?" Vance asked, starting to get exasperated. Was he to stay in the dark about _everything_?

"I mistimed it," she said tensely, though she seemed to be relaxing again somewhat. "I must have forgotten... or maybe they rescheduled?"

"_What_ was rescheduled?!" he exclaimed.

"The Mender! I was trying to get us to Seireitei, but the Dangai was being repaired at the time. We... got hit by the Mender."

This took a moment to sink in. Vance frowned.

"But we're not dead... are we? Or stuck in the void?"

"No... I would guess we actually did make it to Seireitei somehow, anyway." Ryohime closed her eyes. "Or Soul Society, at any rate. It seems quiet around here... I think Seireitei is in that direction," she added, pointing.

Vance took a moment to search out whatever reiatsu Ryohime was using, and his frown deepened. "Wait, I don't sense anything. How do you know it's that way?"

He opened his eyes again just in time to catch the briefest flash of guilt in her eyes. She looked away, not meeting his gaze.

"We... do need to talk," she said quietly. "But I need to warn my dad first, about Caro, Steve and Herald, Dikayumi..."

With each added name, Ryohime looked more and more distressed. Finally she turned back to him, her eyes shining with tears. In a broken voice she whispered helpless, "Everything's falling apart, Vance..."

Suddenly, Vance didn't mind so much being out of the loop. He acted instinctively, stepping forward to embrace Ryohime in a tight hug. She hugged him back with no need for prompting, burying her head against his shoulder.

He wanted to say "It's going to be alright," but he couldn't be certain that was possible. Had something happened to Herald? Steve, Dikayumi...? He couldn't remember, but things were clearly not alright. Ryohime didn't cry unless things were very, very wrong.

And he had the nagging, sickening feeling he was, or had been, a part of what was very, very wrong.

.

Everything hit Ryohime anew, and the sheer volume of their troubles staggered her. Dikayumi had lost his inner battle, his Hollow had taken over completely. Caro's Hollow was still out there, even though Vance was no longer an element. Herald and Steve... she had to assume they had somehow been compromised, turned over to Caro's side somehow? How else could she explain their sudden refusal to listen to reason? Seireitei was supposed to be under siege as well, from what Caro had said last time. And there was still that ache in her heart, the fear and bitterness her own Zanpakuto had raised inside her.

_Muramasa_.

Suddenly, Ryohime felt a powerful urge to fix the one problem that was in her power to fix. She gave Vance one last squeeze, then withdrew herself from the embrace. Vance didn't know what was going on, she could see it in his eyes, but he also had that look... that stubborn "I will protect my friends" look.

A very Kurosaki expression, Herald had always said. He claimed Vance had picked it up from Ryohime.

Without explaining herself, Ryohime drew her Zanpakuto. She didn't really have the energy to care if Vance thought she was being strange. Maybe she was. But she had to settle this.

"Whisper, Muramasa."

Silence.

Ryohime's throat tightened.

"Whisper, Muramasa!"

_Please_...

Nothing.

She felt herself tearing up again, and angrily re-sheathed her Zanpakuto, wiping her eyes with a scorched sleeve. Vance was poised, looking ready to swoop in if she started crying again.

_No. No more crying, don't be so weak, Kurosaki Ryohime,_ she told herself, and took another deep breath. She cracked a fake smile at Vance.

"Never mind," she said in reply to his silent question. "Come on, let's go find my dad."

Vance hesitated, then nodded. He fell in next to her as she started off towards Seireitei.

A horrible notion came to Ryohime as they walked. Could it be that, somehow, Kodoku Muramasa had severed the wrong connection? But no... he was her Bankai. It should be impossible for either one of them to _accidentally_ break their bonds, bonds forged over a decade and more. _I'm just tired_, she thought to herself stubbornly, with forced optimism. _I did just use Bankai for the first time._

She almost managed to convince herself that was the answer.


	42. Interlude 19

Interlude

_The paths between worlds are dangerous places. In order to clean, straighten, and maintain the Dangai, the path between Senkaimons, there is a device known as the Cleaner that runs regularly inside. _

_A time-stop in Seireitei put deadly wrinkles in the Dangai. Untended, running in two separate times, the Dangai became even more dangerous and unpredictable then usual. When time was restored, it became necessary to repair the Dangai, a task the existing Cleaner was not built for. The Mender was created by the Captain of the Twelfth Division and put to work, running for periods of twelve hours several times a week. Over time, the number of times the Mender was scheduled to run was lessened as the Dangai slowly straightened out._

_While the Dangai was safe again to use in ordinary circumstances, when the Mender was active it became more dangerous then ever before..._


	43. Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Two

"What... is going on here?"

Ryohime and Vance stood at the edge of Seireitei, a peculiar feeling crawling over them that had nothing to do with reiatsu.

The walls of Seireitei were nowhere to be seen.

"I don't sense anything out of the ordinary," Vance murmured, and Ryohime silently agreed with him. They couldn't sense anything unusual, either inside or outside of Seireitei. In fact, that was part of what made Ryohime so apprehensive. What about the war that was supposed to be going on? Had Caro pulled his forces back? But the missing wall was the strangest, most immediate problem. There was no rubble, no scorch marks, nothing to indicate it had been destroyed, yet it was completely gone. Vanished, without a trace.

"No point in just standing around," Ryohime finally said, a little apprehensively. "Ready to go?"

Vance nodded, though he put a hand on the hilt of his Zanpakuto. The two Shinigami Daikos walked over the now invisible line into Seireitei, wary of traps or alarms.

Nothing happened. Their presence seemed entirely unnoticed.

"I really don't like this," said Vance, looking around. "This doesn't look or feel like we're in the middle of a war... or even under threat of war. Do you see any lookouts at all?" Ryohime had given him the basic rundown of events on the way, though she had yet to reveal his place in them.

"No..."

"Neither do I." He hesitated. "It makes me nervous."

"You're not the only one," Ryohime whispered to herself, fingering her Zanpakuto's hilt. Under her breath so Vance couldn't hear, she called for Muramasa again. Even with Vance right there she felt alone and vulnerable, and longed for the comforting presence of her Zanpakuto Spirit.

Again, he didn't answer. Her Zanpakuto felt cold and dead beneath her fingers.

"Let go to the barracks," Vance said suddenly, jumping up onto a wall. "The sooner we get to the bottom of this, the better."

Ryohime nodded, jumping up next to him. They took off, hopping roads and using the street walls and roofs of buildings as their highway.

They encountered their first Shinigami a minute in, running along below them with an urgent look on his face. Ryohime hailed him, hoping he could explain what was going on, but he ignored them completely and soon disappeared down a side road.

His hurry only made the two Shinigami Daikos more desperate to get to Ichigo's office, where they were certain answers awaited. Ryohime took the lead, adjusting their course a little to cut through the Fifth Division. She'd normally avoid going through the territory of another Division, but every second seemed to matter all of a sudden.

A burst of laughter up ahead startled her, and she nearly lost her step on a loose shingle. Vance grabbed her arm and she managed to steady herself against him.

A threesome of Shinigami were lounging against one wall further up the street, passing around a bottle of sake and chatting away amiably. It seemed completely out of place, but at the same time Ryohime found herself relieved. Things couldn't be too grim after all if there was time to laze around and drink sake with friends. She hopped down into the street, Vance following, and approached the three Fifth Division.

"Excuse me? What's the state of the battle with Caro?"

None of the three paid her any attention. Ryohime scowled, but it was Vance who stalked forward, eyes narrowed, ready to _force_ them to pay attention to them.

"Hey! We're in the middle of an emergen-"

His hand, reaching out to grab the nearest Shinigami's shoulder, passed right through the man. Vance stumbled forward from the unexpected lack of resistance and fell right through the Shinigami as if he wasn't even there.

One of the three told a joke, and the others began laughing hysterically, taking no notice of Vance lying, stunned, in their midst.

"Vance!"

Ryohime eyed the Shinigami as she ran up, reaching down to help Vance up. He took her hand, looking completely nonplussed, and carefully got to his feet.

The Shinigami continued to ignore them. Vance, as soon as he was back on his feet, waved a hand in front of one's face.

"Hello?"

No reaction at all.

"Hel-lo, big-nose. Your haircut is really lame."

Ryohime took a breath.

"I don't think they can hear us, Vance," she said, raising her voice slightly over the laughing of the Shinigami. "Or see us... or anything."

"So it seems," he said thoughtfully, flicking at Big-nose's big nose. His finger passed right through. Vance turned on Ryohime, suspicious. "I know you've been keeping _something_ from me... is this it? Are we ghosts?" He caught himself. "Well, more ghosts then we usually are... you know what I mean."

"Not... that I know of," she replied. "Though I suppose getting caught by the Mender in the Dangai could have done any number of terrible things to us. I've just never heard of becoming incorporeal as one of the side-effects."

"Yeah, that doesn't quite sound realistic," Vance agreed gloomily. "Man, now what?! If we can't ask your dad what's going on... can't ask anyone... we're going to be left out of all of the action!"

Ryohime smiled, her mood suddenly lifted despite the new problem raising its ghastly head. "Vance... I've missed you."

Vance's gloom shifted right along with her own. "You know, you're right. It could be way worse. If I have been turned into a ghostly-ghost, at least we're ghostly together. Though I don't get _why..._"

"I don't get that, either," Ryohime admitted, glaring around her with Kurosaki-intensity. "The lieutenant from Second said there was a declaration of war, and then Caro pulled his first skirmish in the World of the Living back because of 'complications' or some such with the battle in Seireitei." She gestured helplessly at the three drinking Shinigami. "This doesn't look like Seireitei is at war. At all. They're not even wearing their Zanpakutos, for goodness sake!"

"Come on, we've got to get to the bottom of this ourselves. Kind of unrelated question, but..." Vance hopped up onto the street wall again. "How come I can't go through this wall?"

"Good question. Not a clue."

Vance humphed. "Dumb rules of incorporeal logic. I wonder if the Twelfth Division have researched this sort of thing... sounds like the kind of random, useless research they would have hidden in records somewhere, just in case the issue ever came up."

"And in our case, that would be very handy now," Ryohime finished for him. "It'd be worth looking into, at least, but finding out what's been happening with Caro should be our priority for now. Come on, Fourteenth isn't that much further now..."

...

The Fourteenth Division was gone.

Not even gone – it didn't exist. Instead of the compound (offices, barracks, and training grounds all tucked neatly inside the walls, and the Fourteenth's seal over the gates), there was nothing. An unused warehouse, empty streets. The same as any other forgotten corner of Seireitei.

Vance and Ryohime spread out a bit, convinced at first they had gotten the location wrong. Usually they reached their Seireitei base of operations via Senkaimon, straight from Kitsune's basement to the backyard. Of course finding it from the streets would be harder.

But it wasn't anywhere.

Finally, they gave up. They sat side by side on a wall and stared at where their Division headquarters should be, but wasn't.

"Now what?" asked Vance, and Ryohime shook her head slowly.

"I... have no idea."

It was too much. All of it. She had thought, back when she had fled desperately through the Dangai, that things were bad. But now Muramasa wasn't talking to her, they were unable to interact with anyone, and now she had no idea how to find her father.

_What else can possibly go wrong_?! she thought in frustration, then hastily corrected herself. Vance was there. She had that. Vance was back, and he was one of the people she trusted most in the world.

"It's like we're secret agents," he said just then, leaning back on his hands to stare at the sky. "Sneaking about, unseen and unheard, in enemy territory..."

Ryohime snorted with tense laughter. "Really? Secret agents?"

"Well, either that or lost spirits, but there's nothing interesting in that angle. That's just life as usual. Secret agents are cool."

"I don't feel very cool," Ryohime sighed, but leaned back with him to stare at the sky. It was such a natural thing – they had done this so often together – she almost thought she could sense Herald beside them, napping nearby.

Vance hmmed at the clouds. "And these clouds aren't very cool, either. Just wispy-ness. Can't make anything interesting out of wisps."

He was trying to cheer her up, and probably himself as well, but Ryohime just couldn't relax fully.

"Really, what are we going to do, though?" she asked him, and he settled down with his arms behind his head with a thoughtful sigh.

"Find a captain," he suggested. "Any captain. Follow them around. If there is information guaranteed anywhere in Soul Society, it'll be with the captains."

...

The captain was easy to find, but he was no member of the Court Divisions that Ryohime or Vance had ever seen. He lounged on the roof of some building, his uniform torn at the edges and cut low so as to expose his admittedly _very_ manly chest. His hair was spiked and he wore an eyepatch, creating an appearance that both of them would have recognized immediately. Vance whistled in awe at the sight of him.

"That guy's scary."

"But who _is_ he...?"

Ryohime began ticking off captains on her fingers, completely bewildered by the notion they might have been missing a captain all this time.

"Kyoraku Taichou, Soi-fon Taichou... H-something..."

"Hisagi Taichou," Vance prompted, and Ryohime nodded.

"Right, right. I've only seen him at a distance, but I don't remember him looking anything like this... big."

"Fourth is Isane, of course," continued Vance, a note of guilt entering his voice. "Fifth doesn't have a captain, and then there's the Kuchikis," ticking off three fingers in quick succession, " Shihoin, Hitsugaya, and Madarame Taichous..."

"And Urahara Taichou, Ukitaki Taichou, and my dad," Ryohime finished. She counted again. "That's everyone, and unless someone decided to go for an entirely new style... this guy isn't any of them."

"Ken-chan!"

Ryohime jumped as a tiny pink-haired being appeared abruptly on the wall right next to her, then jumped off again to land squarely on the unknown captain's chest.

"Ken-chan, wake up! Quick!"

The captain opened one eye, looking largely unconcerned. "Eh? What's going on, Yachiru?"

"Baldy and Yun-Yun got drunk and started a fight with Eyebrows! Byakki turned up and started talking about arresting everyone on the spot, and now Soi-chan and the nin-nin are showing up!"

Vance and Ryohime looked at one another with trepidation. What was the little girl babbling about? Was it some secret code? The captain, however, leapt up, teeth bared in a horrifying smile.

"Finally! And Kuchiki is involved, eh...? I've wanted to get that stinking noble to fight me for ages. Lead the way!"

The pink-haired girl, Yachiru, climbed up onto the captain's shoulder, and he charged off, grinning madly. Ryohime and Vance hastily fell in behind him, unsure what was really going on but unwilling to ignore the chance to finally find out. Ryohime noted with surprise that the number on the captain's haori was Eleven... Eleventh Division.

"Do you think something happened to Madarame Taichou?" asked Vance quietly, and Ryohime shrugged.

"Not a clue. We didn't hear anything, but I suppose it is possible for there to have been a sudden captain take-over. But I'd have thought Ayasegawa Fukutaichou would have taken over after Madarame."

There was a sudden burst of reiatsu from behind them, and Ryohime looked over her shoulder. A burst of smoke and dust was rising from the other side of Seireitei.

The captain was looking over his shoulder too, then glanced at his little companion. "Are you sure this is the right direction?"

She pouted. "Hana-hana showed me this really great shortcut through the sewers! It's this way, I'm sure of it."

"Fine, fine, sewers."

"Sewers!" exclaimed Vance happily. "I've always wanted to go sneaking about in sewers. It'll be like the intro to _Void_."

"Eeeh..." Ryohime was not convinced. "I don't see how this shortcut could actually work to save time. Going the wrong way to head back in the correct direction underground, when one could just... run on roofs to the site?"

Vance shrugged. "Hey, who needs logic in Seireitei? Tell you what, let's make a race of it! I'll follow Captain Mysterious and use his shortcut, and you go the direct route. If I win, you have to come down and explore the sewers with me when all this is over!"

Ryohime smiled fondly. "Fine. And if I win?"

"Besides the laws of logic continuing to exist? Eh, make something up. Something fun." Vance shot her a quick salute and turned to catch up with the Eleventh Division Captain. Ryohime snorted, turning mid-stride to head for the site of the battle.

Despite taking her a quarter of an hour to reach the place, the fight was still raging when Ryohime arrived. A dozen shadowy figures were locked in combat, reiatsu clashing and throwing every speck of debris the fighting had created into air to create a thick dust-screen. Ryohime was surprised to find that she recognized several of the reiatsus. Renji and Byakuya were somewhere in that battle, and while she couldn't quite put names to them she recognized two or three others, and all were clearly Shinigami. Why were Byakuya and Renji, the co-brothers-in-law of the noble Kuchiki Clan, fighting against fellow Shinigami..?

Of course. Caro.

A flurry of metal slivers, twinkling in the light, flew past Ryohime's face, and she jerked backwards before realizing they'd probably just go through her, like everything else. She took a deep breath, fearing her new idea was a very, very bad one, and jumped into the fight storm.

Someone was yelling, almost complaining it sounded like, and Ryohime sought out that voice first. She landed on the blasted road, slightly below the worst of the flying dust and smoke, to find two people locked blade-to-blade, standing over a smashed table and shattered cubs.

"Do you ever go to police the Rukongai? NO! And at a time when we need all hands every day. You have no place, no place!, to be lecturing me about working _too hard_!"

Ryohime frowned, peering at the dark-haired fighter. She knew those arm-bands... Hisagi Taichou?

But he looked... different, somehow. It wasn't only that he wasn't wearing his haori, which made him look a bit smaller and less intimidating, but his entire feel was off. It was almost as if he was...

Then Renji smashed into the ground between them, and Ryohime started. "Renji-oji-" she began, then caught herself.

Renji was one of the relatively few people Ryohime had grown up thinking of as family. She thought she should be able to recognize him instantly, at any moment, in any state, but this... this wasn't Kuchiki Renji. Sure, he looked (in some ways) and felt like her honorary uncle, but his air, his aura, was almost thuggish. His hair, shorter then Ryohime had ever seen it, was tied up in a spiky, undignified high ponytail that looked like he hadn't brushed it in years, and he, too, was missing his captain's haori. And he, too, had that strange _off_ feeling, that feeling Ryohime couldn't _quite_ put her finger on...

When Ayasegawa Yumichika appeared, attacking Renji just as the latter was getting to his feet, Ryohime finally figured it out. Yumichika was always changing his look in new, bizarrely "beautiful" ways, and had switched in the last few months to a new one with elaborate feathered braids. Those long peacock feathers, though... Ryohime knew those from her childhood. This was a younger Yumichika's style.

Younger.

They _all_ looked, and felt, years younger.

Vance and she had been hit by the Mender in the Dangai, and survived. But they had not, it seemed, escaped all repercussions.

"This is the past," she murmured, horror-struck. "We've been flung back in time."


	44. Interlude 20

Interlude

_"No playing with Kurosaki Ryohime, eh? Well, that's just lovely. I can't exactly use my sword against her, then, can I? So, tell me, General Akama... how does one kill a Shinigami without being able to use one's sword?"_

_"You're a good manipulator, First General. Make someone think she's the enemy in your place."_

_"It doesn't work quite like that. Besides, if I'm too dramatic it breaks their minds, especially when I try to be someone they truly care about. I made that mistake once, and it lost me everything. It's subtlety for me these days, quietly inserting myself into their pasts as naturally as possible. No true re-writing, no breakdowns, no players doing things erratically to ruin everything."_

_"You're making me a little nervous with all this talk, General."_

_"I've never needed to use Book of the End on you before. Or anyone here, really."_

_"Except Caro."_

_"Except Caro."_

_"... How about this? You create a credible backstory for yourself, take a position in their memory as someone, if not close to them individually, then at least someone known to be trustworthy. A Shinigami, maybe? Caro said he'd send backup, so you could just distract the others while the backup takes care of Kurosaki, and you're left free to deal with everyone else in whatever cruel and unusual ways Caro has ordered."_

_"I think it's a bit of a mercy he sent me after them, rather then Kurotsuchi. At least, in the end, they won't end as fuel for that madman's schemes."_

_"I don't think I'll ever be able to forget those screams..."_

_"No... and you don't even have to remember helping cause them, Akama-san."_

_"Some day, Gener- Tsukishima-san."_

_"Some day _soon_. One way or another, I feel the life we knew here is going to end soon."_


	45. Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Three

Kaba raised his hand immediately, eyes wide with glee behind his multiple pairs of glasses.

"I volunteer!" he declared, his tone almost threatening anyone else to speak up. "I can do it."

They were looking for a volunteer to try and figure out how, exactly, Caro was hypnotizing his victims, and of course the rest of the cowards in this particular group were sitting on their hands. Kurotsuchi Fukataichou noted his enthusiasm and nodded.

"Good, Taichou thought you might find this interesting anyway. We're setting up in Isolation Lab Four."

Kaba whirled back to his desk, hastily saving and closing down all his work. It could be restored soon enough, and even though Tadataka Yonseki was out of the picture, Kaba was sure the Fourth Seat had lower ranked members of Seireitei still working for him. Spying on Kaba's work at every opportunity. And this could be the perfect chance for them, if things went poorly. Kaba wanted to be sure his station was secure in his absence.

As soon as he was done, he rose, chair spinning away from his sharp movements. "Time to solve this thing!" he declared to the room, and the room was silent save for tapping keys as everyone tried to figure out how he expected them to react to this. Kaba left them to it, striding confidently to the door.

Isolation Lab Four was nearly empty, having been unused for years. Urahara and Kurotsuchi Nemu were the only ones there besides himself.

"See, I knew you'd be interested, but to pull yourself away from all that critical work... I'll admit, I'm a little shocked," Urahara Taichou said teasingly. Kaba drew himself up.

"I suspect, even if I should completely lose my mind to this project, you should be able to convince me to keep working on the Mender Project, at least, with a little smooth talking. A working Dangai would be beneficial to both sides, yes? Just keep me under lock and key while I'm doing it!"

"Heh, we may be able to work something out," agreed Urahara, then gestured to the setup. "Here's the plan. We show you the same video Tadataka Yonseki saw before going over to Caro's side, but we only expose you to it one element at a time – visuals, sound, etc. If that fails, we begin combining individual elements one at a time, see which combination triggers the response. Hopefully we'll be able to narrow down what, exactly, it is that causes the transference of loyalties."

Kaba cracked his long fingers, smiling in anticipation.

"Excellent. And I hope we have something other then my word...?"

Nemu cut him short by grabbing his arm, twisting it and neatly inserting a needle in one smooth movement. "Micro-recorders; they'll let us monitor your vitals and any physical responses. Even if you are hypnotized and unable to answer truthfully, we should be able to see the reaction from inside. Do you have your Zanpakuto on you?"

"In other words, it won't matter what I say," Kaba said approvingly, taking the quill from behind his ear and handing it to Nemu. "You'll find out the truth no matter how much I wish to hide it." He chuckled. "Anything else I need to know?"

Urahara hmmed. "I don't think so. We will be recording all of it, of course, and if you do go over to Caro's side and we can't peacefully subdue you..."

"Make sure you learn all you possibly can from the autopsy."

"Hopefully it won't come to that," Urahara said hastily. "Let's get started, shall we?"

The isolation chamber seemed unharmed by its long disuse, but Kaba couldn't help but look at it critically as he stepped through the airlock. It was the sort of unbreakable chamber the former Twelfth Division captain had used to experiment on Hollows and other violent cases. Kaba had always wanted (in a casual sort of way) to get locked inside of one so he could try and figure out how best to break out. Through the ventilation, probably, even _with_ whatever complicated system the designers had come up with to prevent it from being the weak point. It had never been that important before, though, a simple curiosity, and now he was rather glad he had never looked into it.

Though... he had to admit, he was fascinated by the mere idea of Caro's hypnotism. They had no idea what it even was, how it worked, or what it affected... what better way to learn those secrets then to experience it for yourself?

There was a monitor set in the center of the chamber, and Kaba sat down cross-legged in front of it.

"First, we're focusing on his Zanpakuto itself. We've gotten reports that seem to indicate he already released his Resurrección at this point, but there's no proof of it that we can tell, and that Zanpakuto could hold the secret. Ready?"

Kaba nodded, taking off his glasses and leaning in closer. He wanted no variables, no complications affecting the data.

The video was poorly edited; probably by someone's program or robot – something that couldn't be influenced. Everything except the Zanpakuto had been blackened out, and Kaba kept his eyes fixed on it dedicatedly.

At the end of the clip, he shook his head in disappointment. "Nothing."

"This next one is his lips, and after that the audio. It could be something he said."

It seemed possible, but by the end Kaba was shaking his head again. "Nothing." Caro had just been smiling in a sickeningly friendly kind of way. Kaba preferred it when enemies were honest in their facial expressions.

"Eyes next."

It was the eyes.

Kaba's heart skipped.

It was _those_ _eyes_.

They knew, of course, by now. He had only felt an _emotional_ response himself, but his body had betrayed him. The question now, though, was how to minimize the damage? He would be no good to Caro locked up in this chamber. _Curse those micro recorders..._

.

Nemu looked up from her station.

"Taichou? The micros got a strong physical reaction. It's the eyes."

Urahara nodded, glancing back at the chamber. His fifth seat looked up from the monitor wordlessly, his expression almost pleading. How strange it must be, to suddenly be on the wrong side of the war. And how helpless he must be feeling...

"Gas him," Urahara ordered, and Nemu nodded, flicking a switch. The vents hissed slightly as gas began flooding the chamber.

"At least now we know," he muttered as Kaba sank, unconscious, to the floor. "We can't fight him if we don't know what we're up against."

.

Maka Urai sat in the sand of the hidden training grounds, thinking.

Planning.

The Twelfth Division, at least, were not all won over to Caro's side. A message had been sent throughout Seireitei via butterfly that carried a dire warning.

_Do not look into Arrarrico Caro's eyes. Meeting his gaze is what turns people over to his side, even in recordings. Avoid looking at his eyes at all costs._

How many Shinigami had looked at Caro during that battle at the walls? Urai almost wished he had been conscious for that fight, just so he had an idea of what divisions had been present, and were now compromised.

_But if I had been conscious, chances are I would be on his side now, too._

But what was his next move?

With who-knew-how-many divisions, possibly everyone who had gone to meet his assault, now on his side, that meant Caro could very well control a good part of Seireitei. He could be fighting in the streets on even terms with the rest of the divisions... so why wasn't he? What was he planning next? Where was he holed up?

Urai wasn't in a hurry. Even now the secret training room was empty; still secret. He should be safe, and while he was safe, he could be thinking. Caro wasn't an opponent he wanted to face without preparing an appropriate strategy.

And he had a butterfly locked in the warehouse up above. If the Twelfth Division found out anything new, any clues on how to defeat Caro, Urai would hear them.

.

"Do you think Ryohime is alright?"

Steve sighed, shaking his head in dismay. "There's no knowing, I'm afraid." A pause, then, "Herald... I forgot to give out the changed times the Mender was going to be running. It's my fault if she and Vance..."

Herald patted Steve's back awkwardly. "It's not all your fault, though."

"He's right," said Sanseki grimly. "She was... clearly not thinking straight. While infiltrating Caro's facility I heard of this happening... those with extraordinarily strong loyalties can go insane when he starts fiddling around inside their heads. The conflict of interests can be too strong for them to stand."

"So you think she's really lost to us?" asked Herald, sounding more miserable then Steve had ever heard him. And why shouldn't he be? His two oldest friends, Lilynette aside, had just disappeared into a Senkaimon while the Dangai was off-limits. The chances of them making it out alive were... incredibly slim.

"We should probably get Ishida's Hollow back into the basement," Sanseki said, tone turning business-like once more. "With Caro's Hollow gone, there's nothing to distract him if he manages to break out of your grip, Nakamaru Fukataichou."

"He won't," Steve replied. With all other distractions gone and Herald and Lilynette to be the attackers, Caro's Hollow had been relatively easy to capture and then kill, and now Steve could use both hands to hold Dikayumi's Black Hollow still. All the same, it was getting very tiring, holding that powerful Black Hollow in check, so Steve followed Sanseki without further complaint.

"Without Ryohime, I'm not sure Kitsune and Erina can create enough barriers to hold him without dangerously tiring themselves," Herald mused as they headed back. "Though I suppose they should be more rested by now."

"If only we could figure out how to get Dikayumi back! It feels like fate is just... picking off the Fourteenth Division. One by one." There was a large hole in the roof of Kitsune's shop, so Steve aimed for that new shortcut. "And we're cut off from Soul Society for half a day, though whether we could be of any help over there is questionable, considering our current state."

"I should be over there," Sanseki muttered, then saw Steve looking and shrugged. "Duty calls. I have intel to deliver to Soi-fon Taichou... but I can't deliver it. Half a day is a long time when there is game-changing information on the line."

Herald sighed. "If only we had access to a Garganta."

Steve nearly smashed the Black Hollow into the roof of the shop when his fingers twitched. He corrected his steering and looked at Herald, eyes wide behind his glasses.

"You know what... we might. We have Yylfordt."


	46. Interlude 21

Interlude 21 / Mini-Chapter

Kuchiki Renji rummaged through an old box, hmming to himself.

"Why do we have some of Ryohime's old baby clothes in _our_ mansion?" he muttered, then couldn't help but smile at a pile of pictures. Childish scribbles from Ryohime's visits to the mansion. Back when she had been a cute little girl, as opposed to... old enough to be like her dad.

He wondered how his little niece-wannabe was doing. Hopefully the Fourteenth Division was staying far from Seireitei...

"Ah hah!"

The box had been hiding, very skillfully indeed, near the back of the room. His handwriting couldn't be found on many of the boxes, hardly any actually, but this one (declaring the contents "old socks") was one of those few.

He ripped open the box in anticipation. It did not, of course, contain old socks, but instead certain parts of his life that hadn't been welcomed with the rest of him into the Kuchiki Clan. He dug through the junk, finally bringing the prize, triumphantly, into the sunlight.

It was like seeing an old, forgotten friend again. Renji sighed fondly, rubbing it free of dust with his sleeve.

Then, in a reckless movement, he pulled the visor over his head.

For several long moments, it felt like a solid decade had fallen from his shoulders. He had stopped wearing his visors years... ages ago. For Rukia. Or, really, for Byakuya, in _exchange_ for a peaceful marriage with Rukia. Along with a dozen other promises his brother-in-law had extracted from him in order to "uphold the honor of the Kuchikis."

He hadn't really missed them that much, until now. And now, he thought with a crooked smile, Byakuya would have to deal with it. This was bigger then a matter of fashion, this was the survival of Seireitei. In that, at least, he and Byakuya were still on the same side.

For now. If Renji's plan failed, that would change in a heartbeat.

There were dozens of old models in that box, many damaged in one way or another. The one Renji had been looking for was one of the last he had ever owned, and one of his favourites. The most up-to-date visual technology of its time, and incredibly cool as a bonus.

Caro captured his prey by locking eyes with them. The Twelfth Division had implied that it was a visual hypnotism. The captains should be able to fight blind, and many wouldn't even be truly hindered, but Renji would prefer to fight this Arrancar warlord with both eyes open. If anything could interfere with a visual hypnosis, it'd be this.

Renji's gaze hardened behind the sleek black visor.

_Rukia..._

She and Ichigo, both pawns now in Caro's game. Renji wasn't sure if killing Caro would undo the hypnotism, but it hardly mattered. He and Byakuya would take the fight back to Caro in their own way, and either he would release the Shinigami he had brainwashed... or the full fury of Senbonzakura and Zabimaru would come down on him without mercy.

And if they did accidentally kill him... and if his hold on his victims didn't cease... Renji could be patient. The Twelfth and Fourth Divisions had to be working on the problem already. Eventually, they would figure out how to bring their friends and family back.

Renji rose and left the room, his haori billowing out behind him. Byakuya would have already left, and there was only one more thing to take care of.

He stopped in the master bedroom, leaned over his son's crib.

"I'm going to bring Mommy back, Koichi," he said, faking a smile. Koichi gurgled at him. "Daddy and Grumpy will be back soon, okay? In the meantime, be a good boy and try to sleep." He let Koichi chew on his finger for a moment, then pulled away. His hands flashed, and bakudos began to form around the crib. "Just close your eyes, and keep them closed until we all come back home."


	47. Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Four

"We're... trapped in the past?"

Vance sounded exhausted. Ryohime didn't blame him - her friend had been chasing a captain through sewers for nearly five hours. But even though he was now lying on the roof as if ready to roll off at any second, Vance's eyes were bright with excitement at her discovery.

"I think so," replied Ryohime, leaning on her drawn-up knees. "At least, it's the only thing I can think of that would explain all this. People you and I know as captains are currently only lieutenants or seated officers, Zaraki Kenpachi is still alive, and there is no war going on because Caro hasn't even shown up yet. And the incorporeal...ness could be because of that, too. We've gone back far enough that messing with the past could create a paradox, so we simply can't mess with anything."

"A neat idea," Vance agreed slowly, nodding. "But... how far back are we, then? And how do we get back to our own time?"

Ryohime shook her head bleakly. "Not a clue. The thing is, I never knew Zaraki Taichou. If he _was_ alive when I was born, he died before I first visited Seireitei, when I was four. Which means, at the absolute least, we've gone back fourteen years."

Vance whistled. "That's... a long time."

"Tell me about it."

The two were silent for a moment as they mulled over the implications. Vance whistled again.

"Time travel. Cool."

"Cool, but very badly timed. Everything is falling apart back home, and we're stuck here... watching the clouds."

"They _are_ nice clouds, though. No denying."

"From an artistic sense, I suppose. They'd be murder to draw."

Vance seemed to realize what they were doing and sat up abruptly. "You're right, though, this is no time to be bantering. Herald isn't even _here_ to appreciate the cloud-talk. So what can we do in our current situation?"

"Fact list?"

"Exactly." Vance held up a finger. "Fact: We are _currently_ out of sync with our appropriate time."

"True."

"We are incapable of making ourselves known, through touch or voice, to the people of this time."

"True... so far."

"No one seems to have noticed our reiatsu, either."

"True."

"We are on our own."

"Most likely."

"Ah hah!" exclaimed Vance. "In that case, our first priority should be to determine whether or not we are, in fact, on our own. There are a lot of powerful Shinigami in Soul Society, and we should check in with all the ones we know to try and make contact."

Ryohime nodded. "Sounds good. But tomorrow. It's getting late, and it's been a long day."

"Gotta agree with you, there... alright, first thing tomorrow then."

.

Ryohime lay awake, staring at the stars. Vance was nearby, curled up and fast asleep, but she couldn't possibly follow his lead.

So much tension had been building over the last few days, and none of it resolved. It left her feeling heavy inside, filled with anxiety. Vance didn't remember much, if any, of it, which was probably a good thing, but it left her with no one to talk to.

"Muramasa," she whispered, very quietly. She picked up her sheath, held it up against the sky.

Then her eyes narrowed, her eyebrows lowered sharply. She wasn't going to just sit here and beg her Zanpakuto to come comfort her. That wasn't how things worked between them. When she wanted to _talk_, she went to him.

Her inner world was the one place she would never be denied access. And he couldn't keep her out.

Mind made up, Ryohime sat up and settled into a cross-legged meditation pose. This time, there was no emergency to distract her, no Vance to look after. They had all night.

.

_She opened her eyes on the wide beach of her inner world. The frozen ocean spread out before her, icebergs poking up here and there on the otherwise featureless icy plain. The sun, usually caught on the horizon to cast a glorious spectrum of colors across the world, was gone._

_Twilight. Dull, moonless, starless twilight._

_"Muramasa!" she called, turning to look all around. He usually spent time on the rocks of the shore, looking out over the ocean, but he, too, was gone. _

_Her calls echoed back at her, bouncing off the cliffs behind and disappearing across the ocean. She took a breath, then started down the beach, head swiveling as she scanned the beach and the ocean with each step._

_"Muramasaaaa!"_

.

Vance jolted up in a chill sweat. For a moment, he saw only white sand and black walls, and inhuman, in_Hollow,_ screams echoed in his mind.

"Stop him!" he screamed, still half asleep. "Kill-"

Then it was gone. Like mist swept away by the wind.

He blinked, rubbing his eyes.

Ryohime was sitting on the roof, her Zanpakuto across her knees. Vance hoped he hadn't disturbed her meditation with whatever nightmare he had been having. He chuckled weakly, rubbing his arms. He couldn't remember waking up in such a state before... it must have been a _bad_ dream.

His own Zanpakuto was lying next to him, where it belonged, and he picked it up and pushed it through his sash. He looked down at himself for a moment, then set about brushing off his badly damaged robes as best he could. Even if Ryohime was the only one who could see him, that was no excuse to go about looking like a half-dead goat.

He had entirely disassembled his horribly-mangled braid of black hair and was picking through it with his fingers when Ryohime stirred. She sighed, opening her eyes, and gave her Zanpakuto a very disappointed look before standing.

"How'd you sleep?" she asked, stretching. Vance shrugged, fingers still working diligently on his hair.

"Pretty good, I think, though I had a nightmare before waking up. Can't remember what it was about, though. You?"

She ran a hand through her hair ruefully. "I didn't sleep. I was trying to find Muramasa."

"He still wasn't wanting to talk?"

"He's... gone."

Her voice was suddenly very grave. Vance paused, looking at Ryohime in concern.

"_Gone_... gone?"

"I walked my inner world all night, calling for him. He didn't show up, and I couldn't sense a trace of him anywhere. It's as if he just vanished." She drew her Zanpakuto an inch, looking sadly at the silvery blade. "I don't get it. Maybe it was my using Bankai... maybe I did something wrong, and ruined everything..."

"BANKAI?!"

Ryohime jumped at his furious yell, and Vance totally abandoned his hair in order to wheel on her, thoroughly vexed.

"What do you mean, _Bankai_?! Since when have you been using Bankai?"

Ryohime shrank back slightly. "I just used it for the first time yesterday!"

"Why did you have to use Bankai yesterday?" asked Vance intensely. "What does it do? What does it look like? How is it you figured out Bankai and I didn't hear anything about it?!"

"You had other things to think about!" Ryohime snapped suddenly, putting Vance back on his heels. "Seriously, Vance, do you know how you've been acting these last two months? You haven't really been making it easy to talk with you!"

Vance winced under the reprimand. "I..."

"... have been totally absorbed with trying to figure out your Hollow powers," Ryohime interrupted. "And every day that went by with you no closer to a breakthrough made you more and more withdrawn. More and more self-centered. Herald didn't even need me to tell him when I discovered my Bankai; he figured it out the very morning after and brought up the subject himself. If you had been paying attention to anyone besides yourself-!"

Ryohime cut herself off suddenly, clamped her mouth shut. Vance was frozen in shock, eyes wide.

"I'm sorry," Ryohime managed after a long moment. "I'm sorry, that wasn't..."

"No." Vance looked away to avoid her gaze. "I get it." His hand tightening around his Zanpakuto's sheath. "But how about you try being the only person... the _only_ person to fail." His voice faded, and he went silent again. Staring at his Zanpakuto...

After another long, stretching moment, Ryohime finally worked up her nerve. "It's time you hear everything," she said, as bravely as she could. "I... may have made a mistake, but it seemed like the only option at the time. Hear me out?"

Vance sighed heavily, then gestured towards the warehouse nearby, the one that stood where Fourteenth offices would eventually. "Can we get off this slanted roof first, though?"

They settled down in the dust and darkness, and Ryohime tried to figure how far back to go.

"Do you remember... the fight against the Hollow Whiplash?"

Vance shook his head.

"Then... I suppose that's where I'd better start. Because it was after that battle, Vance, that you disappeared off the face of the earth."


	48. Interlude 22

Interlude

Caro sat in the office of the Head Captain, enjoying the moment.

Unfortunately the First Division Captain wasn't there or Caro would have enjoyed it a lot more, but one had to take misfortune along with good fortune. The first battle had gone well, very well, and the reinforcements of Shinigami had given him a force to be reckoned with.

And he had real captains now, not simply "captain-level" castoffs who had stumbled into his snares. Real captains with connections in Seireitei would be far harder for their fellows to fight then Shinigami who had been out of the picture for half a century.

It was all coming together nicely.

Of course, he controlled less then half of Seireitei, but his Muerte troops were settling down to bolster his new Shinigami forces. They would start with patrolling the areas he had claimed while his new Shinigami were initiated, and then together they could begin invading the Divisions that still stood against him. One Division at a time, overwhelming the opposition.

With each fallen Division, Seireitei's Shinigami would grow weaker, and Caro's forces would grow stronger. Now that Caro had his foothold... it all seemed too easy.

"Of course," he told the Second Division officers he had assigned as personal guards, "there are still the enemy captains to think about. There will be nothing easy about defeating them, especially now that those Twelfth Division people have figured out part of my power." That still stung. He had staged that huge, chaotic battle so that he could ensnare the new forces secretly, without it being obvious what he was doing. He didn't _like_ it when his secrets got out. How exactly he would punish Twelfth Division for their sneaky prying was still under debate, but he was leaning towards putting Kurotsuchi Mayuri back in charge. There was a beautifully cruel justice to it, and he knew Kurotsuchi would appreciate the gesture.

"The Stealth Force is tracking down the resisting captains now, sir," said one of them, and Caro hmmed to himself in dissatisfaction.

"Stealth Force is the Seireitei name," he mused. "You are now members of Dioses Muerte, and our stealth-based forces are known as the Muerte Silenciosa. You, Iga-san?, go speak with General Kurotsuchi and ask him if the communication network up and running yet. If so, I want all former members of the Stealth Force to report to Under-General Valero. We need to be a properly unified force, and having all these different names for the same force is not efficient."

"Yes, sir!"

Caro leaned against the desk, lacing his fingers together. He would have to figure out how best to use the Silenciosa, especially now that their numbers had more then doubled with the invasion of the Second Division. There had never before been that many members of Dioses Muerte who were good at restraining themselves, let alone sneak around unseen.

Perhaps there might be the opportunity for some... assassinations in the future. Caro smiled, the idea pleasing.

He didn't need all the Shinigami to follow him, only a majority. And if the Twelfth Division was figuring out how to counter his Eyes, they had to be stopped as swiftly as possible.

"I love it when things come together like this," he told his other bodyguard fondly.


	49. Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Five

Edward frowned, pushing Erina's healing hands away from his new Black-Hollow-claw scratches as he rose.

"Do you recognize that third reiatsu?" he asked, and the others looked at him in confusion.

"No...?"

Herald and Steve were easy to recognize, coming closer with the heavy darkness of the Black Hollow following – or chasing – them... but there was something new, too.

"It's not Shinigami... or Arrancar?" Edward didn't like the feel of this. Something about that reiatsu made his spine prickle, and he loosened his Zanpakuto in its sheath. "Get ready for trouble."

The fight aboveground had been distant, too far away for Edward to figure out any details from the reiatsu alone, but he had _thought_ that unfamiliar reiatsu was one of the enemies. Now Ryohime's reiatsu was gone, and the stranger was coming back with the Division lieutenants... were they bringing prisoners?

If it had been a Shinigami reiatsu, or even Arrancar, it would have been less troubling. As it was, Edward was not feeling very friendly towards unknown elements, especially with this whole war thing going on.

His wariness saved him. There was a green flicker, and suddenly a red-cloaked man was standing on the sandy floor, a sword in hand. Edward's instincts kicked in before his brain and he flung himself backwards as the sword flashed towards him, the tip slicing mere inches from his flesh.

"Enemy!" Edward yelled as he jumped back nimbly, then released his Zanpakuto. This new opponent was _fast_, he would need every feline instinct available.

Yylfordt, following his master's lead, released his Zanpakuto, though he kept his distance for now. Edward had been instinctively wary of this newcomer, which (to Yylfordt) meant it was someone to take seriously. Erina leapted backwards, getting in front of Kitsune like a human shield.

She didn't back up far enough. Edward and Yylfordt jumped to intercept him as this new enemy lunged at her, but he was too fast. Erina gasped in shock as the sword slashed across her throat.

Edward roared wordlessly, pouncing on the stranger's back with all claws outstretched. The two tumbled sideways, the enemy's sword lost in the sudden jumble of red cloth and black fur. Kitsune immediately leapt for Erina, the telltale glow of healing kido already flickering into existence around his hands... but Erina was getting up when he reached her, apparently completely unharmed.

"What are you doing, Edward?!" she yelled, alarmed. "That's not an enemy!"

Edward ignored her. His ears twitched, and he shot her one sidelong look as if to say, "Good, you're alive," before going back to snapping his fangs at this new enemy's throat.

"What's wrong with Edward?" asked Steve, looking alarmed, as he and Herald dropped down through the trapdoor, the Black Hollow still struggling against his ensnaring release. "Why's he attacking Sanseki?"

"I don't know!" Erina exclaimed anxiously. "He just jumped him all of a sudden."

"This man attacked first," protested Kitsune, drawing a knife from his belt. He glanced at Yylfordt for support.

"Who's Sanseki?" he asked tensely, impatiently flicking the tip of his whip in the sand. He looked about to jump in to help Edward, but found himself unexpectedly blocked by Herald.

"Alright, this is getting irritating! Everyone, stop fighting, we need to figure this out."

"There is nothing to figure out!" insisted Yylfordt, lashing his whip in the air angrily. The sharp _crack_ emphasized his annoyance. "That's one of Caro's men, right? And he came down here and tried to kill Erina. Why are you defending him?"

Steve got between him and the two battling figures, stretching out his free hand warningly. "Don't you start too, Yylfordt. I don't want to have to fight either you or Edward, but if you keep insisting on this nonsensical battle I'll have to step in!"

"Steve, pay attention!" yelped Herald, but it was too late. The Black Hollow broke free and leapt right into the middle of them all, roaring in rage. His tail lashed out, catching Herald and knocking him back violently into a boulder.

Yylfordt steeled himself. "I'm sorry, brother," he muttered, then lunged forward while Steve was distracted, his whip cracking. Steve cried out in surprise as Yylfordt's whip snapped around his outstretched arm, yanking him off balance and ruining his attempted puppeteering.

Everything quickly dissolved into chaos, but Edward didn't even notice. He was entirely focused on the man beneath him, the person who had almost killed Erina. They wrestled around in the sand, Edward trying to get a fatal grip around the man's throat, his opponent trying to throw Edward free and reach his sword.

That sword...

The fur along Edward's spine was bristled. He knew that if the enemy got a hold of that sword again things would turn very quickly. Something about it terrified him, especially considering a blow that should have killed Erina had seemed to do nothing at all.

_What kind of sword doesn't cut?_

It seemed to him that, if it didn't cut, it had to be capable of something much worse then simply killing. And the thought of that made his black-furred tail poof up.

He snarled, snapping his teeth. The man had one hand at his throat, desperately pushing to keep his fangs out of reach and making it hard for Edward to breath. Edward flexed his claws, drawing a hiss from his opponent as they dug further into his shoulder and side.

Something suddenly hit Edward from the side, and he yelped in pain as he was knocked over. Yellow Bakudo chains climbed swiftly around him, tying his hind legs together and wrapping around his jaws like a muzzle. He balked, trying to free himself, when he saw Erina standing some distance away, hands outstretched as she chanted the follow-up to the Bakudo she had just cast.

_Erina?! Why...?_

His opponent was getting up, limping towards his sword. For the first time Edward noticed the fighting everywhere else. Steve against Yylfordt, Herald against the Black Hollow against Kitsune... and Erina, standing there passively, her Bakudo holding Edward down as the enemy retrieved his weapon!

_What's wrong with everyone?!_

With as much of a roar as his chained jaws allowed, Edward surged forward, snapping through the Bakudo that had held his legs. The enemy was running towards the battle between Steve and Yylfordt, and from the looks of things it would be a two-on-one fight if he got there. Erina was shouting something, but Edward found he could hardly understand her. He was acting on old, deep instincts now, tempered by his humanity but still strong enough to fully engulf his identity.

His inner Grimmjow had reached its strongest. He leapt, slamming into his opponent's back, his claws digging into his shoulders to keep him in place while his hind claws racked at the man's vulnerable back. They fell to the ground again, Edward again on top, but this time there was no hand to hold back his teeth. He lunged for the back of the man's neck... then every muscle in his body tensed and he jerked to a stop.

His eyes flicked up. First Erina, now his own brother? Edward's teeth bared in a snarl, and even though he couldn't force himself to move against Steve's invisible strings, he could still dig his claws into the man's back. If Edward was to be dragged off his victim, he'd take half the man's skin with him.

Steve and Edward locked gazes, trapped in a stalemate. Yylfordt was trapped by Steve's other hand, and Kitsune was now dueling Erina. It seemed the only thing keeping Herald from joining the fray on the wrong side was the raging Black Hollow, who was doing a fine job of keeping him and Lilynette on their toes.

For a moment, though, everything seemed very still and quiet to Edward. He met Steve's eyes defiantly, then, fighting the hold with all his might, grated out a single sentence with his inhuman voice.

"Do you no longer trust me?"

Beneath his tightening claws his enemy also cried out in pain, hissing lies through his gritted teeth. Edward saw a flash of conflict in Steve's eyes... then felt the tug of Steve's puppet strings.

Abruptly, unwillingly, Edward was forced to retreat, though his claws tore long gashes in his enemy's back as he backed away. His opponent gasped in pain and lay still for a moment. But then, of course, he reached out and grasped the hilt of his sword.

Edward fought against Steve's grasp, ignoring the enemy. He stared at Steve, eyes burning with anger and betrayal. Steve wouldn't meet his gaze, he was talking with the enemy and looking everywhere but at his brother.

A sense of failure descended over Edward as the enemy approached him, that frightening sword held almost casually at his side.

_Steve fought for him,_ he thought, his Hollow side retreating slowly as his adrenaline faded. _Steve trusts him over me._

From somewhere high, high above, a familiar sword fell like a comet towards them.


	50. Interlude 23

Interlude

I never did destroy the Hollow.

_Dikayumi struggled under the oppressive darkness, trying desperately to break through. Laughter echoed faintly around him, bouncing and reverberating strangely._

Should have known it wouldn't be as easy as pretending it didn't exist.

_He had once had multiple voices in his head, and headaches that caused him to awaken, screaming, in the night. They had ceased during the events preceding Aizen's escape, and he had let that be enough. He had concentrated on his Quincy training, and stayed as far from the truth of his place in the company. _

_He should, probably, have joined the Fourteenth Division. Been around others like him so as to remind himself of what had, what still did lurk inside him. But he hadn't. All of that past life had been crushed into a small, dark corner of his soul and ignored._

_And now that darkness had risen to choke the life out of him._

There must be a way out.

_That thought was the sole source of hope for the young Quincy. The others had all defeated their dark sides, or come to a mutually beneficial understanding. Charles had been in the same position once, his soul undermined and taken over by Nnoitra, but he had eventually succeeded in dragging the Hollow back into his inner world, and had defeated him in his turn. _

There is always hope.


	51. Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Six

Vance perched on the top of one of Seireitei's towers, staring out over the walls, over the Rukongai, towards the distant horizon as the sun rose.

He wondered what he could find out there, in those distant, seemingly endless plains. Had they ever been fully explored? Maybe there were other realms of the dead out there, further away then any Shinigami had ever gone... further then anyone _could_ go.

It had been days since Ryohime told him truth about the days he had forgotten, and Vance was still feeling a dark sting of guilt. And loss. He hadn't noticed it, hadn't thought to check until she had explained what she- what her Bankai had done, but the moment he tried to call up those memories from his past life...

Nothing.

He could recall certain _facts_ from Vega's past, but he could no longer _picture_ them. He knew Vega had been a tiger-like Adjuchas, that his Arrancar mask had fangs, that his released form had a blade on the end of his braid... but he could no longer say what that actually looked like. It was as if he had only heard all of this information second-hand, never experienced it for himself.

Vega was gone.

All the memories, faint though they might have been before, were gone for good. The powers of his Hollow past that he had been working so hard to unlock were gone now, too. Probably still trapped inside the other half of himself, that experimental monstrosity he had become.

He couldn't remember that, either. He almost wished he could.

The cuts and deep punctures he had brought with him out of that creature were almost healed now, and that was the one encouraging thing Vance still clung to. It should be taking longer, but most were nothing more then scars by now. It seemed to indicate his Shinigami powers, at least, were still present. He could still flash-step, he was still healing quicker then regular humans... he still had that, however much weaker his Shinigami powers might be compared to an Arrancar's power.

Vance chuckled dryly to himself, picking up a bit of cracked masonry and tossing it out over Seireitei. "I wasn't exactly getting very far with my Arrancar powers anyway, was I?"

Only the wind replied, tussling his torn robes almost playfully.

He wondered at that, too, in these lonely moments on his tower. He could feel the wind, fling a rock, even open certain doors... but nothing he did affected anyone else. Ryohime had suggested that they were in this ghost-state to avoid creating a paradox, which Vance had assumed meant they couldn't do anything to touch the past. But that was clearly not the case. It was as if they were free to interact with the past reality whenever it wouldn't change anything for anyone who actually _belonged_ there.

Hence, running on walls without sinking right through. Opening and closing the door to a warehouse no one ever visited. Throwing a rock that no one would ever see fall.

Vance couldn't help but wonder, as he tried and failed to pick up another fragment of broken stone, who would have been hit on the head if he had been able to throw it.

As soon as the last sunrise colors had faded and the sun was well and truly up, Vance rose and hopped down off the tower. He had some spying to do.

He had been stopping in at the Second Division ever since they figured out what was going on, while Ryohime stalked the Sixth Division. The Sixth had been Ryohime's choice for personal reasons, but the Second Division seemed to Vance the ideal place for information-gathering. Since his first day on watch, that instinct had proven correct.

Soi-Fon had eyes and ears on everything, it seemed. And while she wasn't, personally, alerted to every little thing going on in Seireitei at any given moment, her officers were. Vance climbed in the open window to Lieutenant Omaeda Hachiro's office and clambered up to his favourite perch atop a bookshelf, where he could easily see every report that came across the lieutenant's desk. Listen in on every discussion between officers.

Most of it, of course, was nothing interesting. The construction of Rukon District 96 was being held up by bandit attacks. There were a few new missing-Shinigami cases. Some mad spirit with an obsession for nines was disturbing Rukongai citizens with talk of the world ending and being rebuilt in a new image.

Nothing, really, that could give him a firm idea of what time they had been dropped into.

They had narrowed down the possibilities, of course, based on who the officers were. Zaraki Kenpachi was Eleventh Division Captain, while Urahara Kisuke had retaken the Twelfth Division captaincy. That left them in a range of more or less ten years, all of which (Ryohime suspected) were before either of them were born. She couldn't remember exactly when Madarame Taichou took over, but he had been the Eleventh Division Captain for as long as she could remember.

It seemed odd, existing in a time before he existed. Vance wondered at times if he no longer really existed at all, but he was too generally impressed with the situation to be worried about it.

Vance did a lot of wondering, sitting on his bookshelf over Lieutenant Hachiro's shoulder. In truth, there was little else he could spend his time doing.

.

_Abarai Renji._

Ryohime shook her head with a snort. It sounded so _wrong_. Kuchiki had been Renji's surname as long as she could remember, though (technically) she knew it had been Abarai once. And his relationship with Byakuya seemed so cold (on Byakuya's side) and antagonistic (on Renji's), she could hardly believe Byakuya would _ever_ consent to letting him into the family.

She was watching the two of them now, Byakuya lecturing a fuming Renji on the fight that had broken out the other day. Byakuya was basically blaming the entire thing on Renji, and Ryohime could tell Renji's temper was not going to stay under control for long.

And yet, strangely, she enjoyed watching it. Byakuya was basically exactly how she remembered, cold and aloof, and gave Ryohime something familiar to grasp hold of. Renji, too - though his mannerisms were a little more wild (and his appearance certainly so) - still _felt_ like the Renji she knew. Her childhood "uncles", and after the Aizen Incident the people she had been rebuilding relationships with week after week, alive and well.

She wasn't close to almost anyone else in Seireitei, but she had Vance, and the Kuchikis. It was enough to keep her from despairing.

Because it was _very_ trying, being disconnected from everything. In another time, her friends and family were fighting a war, and she could do nothing about it. She wasn't even certain she could get back to them eventually. They had tried opening a Senkaimon their first day trapped in the past, and nothing had happened. Trying to go through a Senkaimon opened by the Shinigami had failed too, they had just walked right through the inter-dimensional gate as if it didn't exist. Not that finding the Mender (...or the Cleaner, rather, since the Mender didn't exist yet) and running into it seemed a very good idea to either of them, anyway.

She couldn't even spend her time training as she once had. Muramasa was gone.

That was the biggest of the worries weighing heavy in Ryohime's heart. She had gone back, every night, to look for him, to call for him. Up and down that beach she had walked, calling out his name until her voice failed. He might have been hiding himself for some inexplicable reason, except that her physical Zanpakuto felt completely devoid of spirit. Even the balance seemed somewhat off. It was as if Muramasa's presence had actively lightened the sword, making it a perfect extension of Ryohime's being, and now it was heavy without him there.

Around Vance, she didn't talk about it. After all, she and Muramasa had cut him off from his powers too, even though it had been for a good reason. Ryohime knew she wasn't the only person suddenly lacking.

Even so, Muramasa's absence left a hole in her soul that she had no idea how to fill.


	52. Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Seven

The sword hit with enough force to send a blast of air and sand sweeping out over them all. Edward squinted - his opponent hesitated - and Edward tried to make the most of the sudden distraction to break free of Steve's power.

He almost succeeded. Steve was clearly distracted, but just when Edward felt about to snap free he felt the force holding his muscles tighten again.

A young man plummeted to the ground after his sword, but as the enemy moved to intercept him, sword slashing, his descent changed directions abruptly and he slipped out of reach, falling towards the wall. Edward grinned, fangs bared.

_You won't catch _him_ so easily._

Hirama Charles flipped down and landed nimbly on the sand, hopping backwards a few steps to use up his momentum. If not for his reiatsu, Edward would hardly have recognized him as the same person who had joined them, and then left them, after the Aizen Incident.

This one-year-older Charles looked like he had spent the entire year training to become someone else. Once upon a time, he had been the pudgy know-it-all in class no one liked. Then, when Nnoitra had taken over, he had completely starved himself and worked out brutally until he looked painfully thin. Now, for the first time since Edward had met him, Charles actually looked fit in a _balanced_ way. Dangerous, even.

He had let his hair grow out and had it tied back in a short ponytail, and he was sporting the ghost of a beard he certainly hadn't had last year. His Fourteenth Division uniform had clearly been modified, and now not only had long coat-tails which flapped impressively behind him, but also had, dangling from a thick leather belt, several coils of long, bladed chains which Edward couldn't quite see the point of.

Then Charles pounced towards the enemy, and the point of those chains became obvious.

It hadn't just been his physical appearance that had changed. Edward realized at once that Charles had been training his gravity manipulation powers to a frightening extent, and possibly even mutated it into an even deadlier form. The chains flared out around him, whipping towards the enemy as if of their own accord. This was a kind of pinpoint-accurate control Edward had never seen any form of Nnoitra use before... hadn't even thought him capable of.

"Charles?!" screeched Steve, looking dismayed. "Stop that! He's an ally!"

"Obviously," Charles yelled back as he clashed with the enemy. "I see the Fourteenth Division fighting among themselves, a Hollow, and a stranger wearing Caro's colors. _Caro's _colors, Steve! From everything I've heard, Caro's M.O. is making us fight among ourselves, which is exactly what I see happening here!"

That, finally, gave Steve pause. In that moment, Edward broke free with an enormous flare of reiatsu and immediately streaked towards his wayward brother.

Charles seemed to be fending for himself very nicely, but if Steve interfered in that fight... that could be the end of it. Edward wasn't happy about it, but his brother was clearly on the wrong side right now.

He had to be taken down.

.

Charles didn't like this opponent.

His sword, for it didn't feel like a Zanpakuto, nevertheless held a frightful power. Charles caught a length of chain from one of the coils and practically felt the links coming apart in his hand.

With one cut, which apparently hadn't even cut anything, the enemy had ruined an entire chain. It felt wrong... if Charles had to guess, it would seem like the metal itself was flawed, but how could one make a sturdy, strong metal crumble so easily with one touch...?

He had thought that the enemy's power had to be something to do with mental control, but he was second-guessing that now. Perhaps Caro had ensnared members of the Special Units first, and then this fellow had come along to finish the job.

_"Stop that. He's an ally..."_ Steve had said.

Charles tsked as he jumped back, falling backwards neatly out of range before restoring gravity to its proper pull. He tugged at a second coil of chain and, after confirming it was still strong, unhooked the blade from the last link, replacing it with a bullet-sized grapple from his wide array of gizmos.

It was looking like attacking this fellow directly would just ruin his equipment. He had to be taken out more... deviously.

_If only someone else wasn't otherwise engaged_, he mused, launching himself towards the distant roof. He had known something was wrong when no one had responded to his email, but it seemed that the Fourteenth Division was thoroughly compromised now, not simply too busy with the war to remember their more distant members.

Did Dikayumi know what was going on? Charles made a mental note to check with the Ishidas as soon as things here were settled. If his emails were going unnoticed, Dikayumi might not have gotten any updates either.

He reversed direction, dropping down towards the enemy with a secondary chain held ready. The man leapt to meet him, and Charles manipulated the personal gravity of the bullet-grapple to shoot out towards the enemy, to catch his sword arm.

_He's fast,_ Charles thought as the man twisted away, back-slashing the chain as if in afterthought. The chain seemed to rust as Charles watched, in a moment turning brownish-red and splotchy. A different method of destruction...?

"I don't even know your name yet," he called, again retreating. "Who are you, besides one of Caro's men?"

"Sho Sanseki, Second Division," the man replied, then charged, closing the distance frighteningly quick. Charles blocked the sword with a doubled-up length of rusty chain, though the metal barely withstood the blow. Chain and sword strained against each other, their owners nearly face to face. Quietly, as if he wanted to avoid letting those below hear him, the enemy said, "Though to you, it seems, I can be General Tsukishima Shukuro. For a brief time, at least..."

The rusty chain shattered, and Charles flung himself recklessly backwards to avoid the blow leveled at him. He found that introduction very ominous, and coupled with the way Steve had reacted when Charles had first joined the fray...

Had this General Tsukishima somehow gotten himself established as a member of Seireitei? But only to certain people, it seemed.

But how?

He landed on one wall, stood up. For now at least, the wall was his floor, and from his perspective he was looking up as Tsukishima fell towards him. He took control of his grapple-chain and drove it deep into the wall, then (just as Tsukishima was reaching him) restored gravity to its natural state. He fell abruptly, right out of range, until the chain caught. He swung himself around, trying to maintain his momentum with quick, precise changes to how gravity affected him, and ended up coming at Tsukishima hard from behind.

According to the physics most people were used to, this should not have been possible. It was akin to drawing a straight line along a ruler, yet ending up with a figure-eight. For a moment, he thought he had caught his opponent by surprise with the move, then his chain snapped. Without the anchor, his momentum carried him further up then intended, and he slammed into the wall above Tsukishima's head.

_A link broke? When did it get damaged?!_

He tried to stand, but his gravity was in the wrong direction. He slid downward several feet before managing to catch himself... but the distraction had done its damage. Even as Charles rose, he felt a sword biting into his back.

The next moment, he was wondering why on earth they were up here when the Black Hollow was on the ground. Sanseki was nearby, looking concerned...

_Tag._

Charles, for some reason, was almost felt relieved to hear that voice. But why in the world was he relieved?!

_I'm it._

...

Nnoitra put gravity back where it belonged; he had little interest in that particular, warped mess of an ability the puny human channeled. Only one thing mattered to him, only one thing to focus on, as "Sanseki" suggested that they should rejoin the battle down below.

_All of a sudden, there was a member of the Second Division standing in front of him._

His hand, holding one of the backup hook-blades the human liked to put on his chains, daggered through the officer's back. They hit the ground together and Nnoitra felt sand as he drove his hand further down. Sanseki screeched in pain, shuddering, then managed to turn his head so he could give Nnoitra a hurt glare.

"What's... wrong with... you?" he gasped, and Nnoitra smiled darkly. He drew another of those spare blades.

"I hate the Second Division." A look of alarm crossed the officer's face, and Nnoitra's smile widened. He bent down, whispered, "This one is for Tesla."

Charles and the others may have forgiven the Second Division... but Nnoitra never would.

He drove that second blade down. Moments later, Charles reinserted himself, struggling to hold back the blood-thirsty, vengeful Espada inside. Nnoitra wanted to tear this opponent into tiny little shreds... obliterate him from existence.

Originally, perhaps, Charles had stepped back in to try and save a perceived ally, but even as he knelt there next to their fallen opponent, that perception wavered.

_Finish him!_ Nnoitra insisted, but Charles hesitated. The battle was over, one way or another, but he wasn't sure if he should deliver the final blow or not. The look in their opponent's eyes was one of defeat. Or, rather, it was the look of one who understood he was dying. Already Charles' memories of the events of the past few days were becoming hazy, rippled with error. Had he still been traveling until this morning, or had he been training with the others?

"C... aro..." gasped the dying enemy, the man Charles was torn between calling _Sanseki_ or _Tsukishima_. "He's... not unbeatable."

Charles carefully knelt at the man's side, wary of a surprise attack, but this seemed important. The man was gritting his teeth in pain, breathing faint, but his eyes were afire with a sudden purpose.

"His power isn't... final. And his... we-weakness... isn't just the eyes."

"Weakness?" Charles prompted, but Caro's general seemed in even greater pain now then when Nnoitra had stabbed him. It took a long moment for him to manage a reply.

"...can't be released all... all the time. And sealed, it's vulnerable." He groaned, doubling over. Charles realized that this wasn't... didn't _look_ like just a reaction to his physical injuries – there was something tearing the general apart from inside. _Is it just something mental? Something to do with betraying Caro's secrets...?_

"His staff," the general managed faintly through gritted teeth. "Sealed, it's wea-"

He never finished. What finally killed him, Charles hadn't a clue, but in a matter of seconds it became clear General Tsukishima had breathed his last. His flickering reiatsu vanished, like a flame puffed out in the wind.

Charles rocked back onto his heels, thinking. Could that entire thing have been a ruse? One last act of loyalty by a dying minion? If so... then he had been putting on a good show. It had sounded and _felt_ like a sincere warning.

_Sealed power... eyes... staff..._

He knew about the eyes, but the staff? Charles hadn't heard anything about a staff. Another thing to ask about once this fight was behind them.

Speaking of...

He scrubbed his bloody, bloody hands in the sand, trying to rub away the feeling of death, then looked up to see how the others were faring.

Edward had Steve pinned to the ground, but it seemed the fight had left Steve completely. He looked simultaneously stunned and embarrassed. Erina had an expression like she had seen a ghost. Yylfordt, Kitsune, and Edward looked wary, as if expecting their allies to start attacking again at any moment. Herald, of course, seemed to be the most composed of the lot... he and Lilynette were still hounding the Black Hollow.

The Black... Dikayumi.

The idea that he had been here for days, fighting alongside "Sanseki" with everyone else, was clearly false, but the little tidbit that Dikayumi had Hollowfied seemed very plausible. Truth mixed with lies, to make the lies more believable.

Charles unclipped all his ruined coils of chains, fingering the last unharmed one he had on him.

"Kitsune! Erina! Snap out of it, we need to subdue that Hollow!" he called, and the Kido users looked at him abruptly. He unhooked his chain, carrying the whole coil in one hand and the bladed end in the other. "Enhance my chain, I'll try and slow him down."

Kitsune reacted first, and a moment later a glowing bakudo chain had overlayed itself onto Charles'. He dove forward, driving the bladed end of the chain towards the Black Hollow's legs. Herald saw him coming and leapt free, whistling for Lilynette. The Hollow roared as the blade dug in, and its tail slammed into Charles as he flew too close.

More momentum.

Charles let himself be carried by the blow, though he nudged himself around like he had against Tsukishima. Chain trailed out behind as he whirled around the Hollow, centrifugal force taking over the hard work for him.

The Hollow lunged at him, but only succeeded in tangling itself even further in the chains. More glowing Bakudo spells finally began appearing around them, and Charles let go of his chain and jumped away to avoid getting caught in them too.

Only when they could no longer even hear the roars did Kitsune and Erina stop chanting, their Bakudos quadrupled and enhanced. For the first time since Charles arrived, everyone had a moment to catch their breath.

"So," Charles said after a long minute, looking pointedly at a slowly-recovering Steve. "What, exactly, has been happening around here since the last time I heard from you?"


	53. Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Ryohime didn't know what had changed, but she awoke that eventful morning with a strange feeling deep in her gut. She thought, at first, that someone was attacking Seireitei because of the sudden feeling of unease, but Seireitei was still and quiet, the sky outside her window was a clear blue with hardly a cloud to pass over the sun. It seemed to be another beautiful, ordinary, totally boring morning.

Vance was sitting against one wall, napping. He had a little flowered weed in one hand, and Ryohime couldn't help but smile. They had been avoiding each other for over a week, but it seemed he had decided to make the first move towards reconciling this time. Where he had found a flower that had absolutely no bearing on anyone or anything's future, though, Ryohime couldn't imagine. It was surprisingly hard to find such things. He must have been out in some field trying to pick every flower he could find...

She poked him, and he stirred, opening one eye just slightly to acknowledge her.

"Mmm... morning, Ryohime."

"Good morning."

He blinked a few times, then tried to rub his face to banish sleep, only to accidentally poke himself in the eye with the flower he still clutched in one hand. He "eep"-ed and stared at the flower for a moment in confusion.

"Oh, oh! Right. Here. Found this for you," he said abruptly, then smiled mischievously. "Actually... got a even better surprise for you later on, too. Got to go find it again, of course..."

Ryohime looked at him suspiciously. "Did you find me a kitten that has no future? Because... wow, that would be really sad."

"Er... no, though a cat would certainly liven things up around here. Just something. But! I'm going to go stop by Hachiro's office, see if I missed anything important yesterday."

"What were you doing yesterday?"

Vance laughed. "Not much, I'm afraid. Trying and failing to pick flowers."

The way he talked, their argument seemed a distant issue, a petty thing of the past. Ryohime poked the stem of her little yellow flower through a couple of holes in her sleeve so it would stay put, then waved goodbye to Vance as he jumped back out the window to check in with his favourite spy.

She had almost forgotten about that strange new feeling during their talk, but as soon as Vance was gone and she was again alone, it came back to tickle at her senses. It seemed... familiar somehow, yet still totally alien. It wasn't reiatsu, that was for sure. This was an entirely different, less substantial (but more personal) kind of sense. Like... the difference between tasting a sliver of something new, and standing in a crowd, listening to the loud chatter.

Ryohime sighed, rising. If today was going to be an odd day, she didn't want to spend it in the Kuchiki's back shed. As lovely a back shed as it was (the nicest, in fact, as far as back sheds were concerned), it wasn't exactly the place for excitement. She headed out, intent on spending a little time in Rukia's office in the Thirteenth Division.

She was in no particular hurry and it _was_ a nice day, so she had only just arrived at her aunt's office, long enough time to see it was empty, when Vance flash-stepped behind her, breathing heavily.

"There's been some sort of incident!" he panted, eyes wide. Ryohime frowned worriedly, tensing.

"What sort of incident? Where? Who?"

Vance shook his head, catching his breath. "Don't know," he managed. "Just saw the report. Apparently your dad just called in a favor, told Seireitei to have the Fourth Division standing ready. They're opening a Senkaimon straight to their courtyard."

"Dad...?"

Somehow, Ryohime had forgotten that her father visited Seireitei every now and then during the years before the time-stop. After all, she had taken several trips there herself as a baby. But she didn't remember hearing about any emergencies...

She immediately hopped back out of Rukia's window, Shunpo-ing off towards the Second Division. Whatever emergency was underway, if it involved her father Ryohime felt she had to be there.

They arrived in the Fourth Division almost at the same time as Ichigo. A group of people were already clustered around the Senkaimon when Ryohime hopped over the courtyard wall, and she could see her father's spiky hair in the middle of the group.

_This is the past, and the past is set,_ Ryohime told herself as she ran forward, though panic still threatened to choke her. _He's still alive in my time, so it can't be anything-_

Then she reached them, and saw Ichigo wasn't the injured individual. He was hovering frantically over a dark-haired woman while the Fourth Division emergency team examined her.

With a start, Ryohime realized who it was.

Vance looked at her in concern as she drew in a sharp breath. "What's wrong? Who...?" he stopped mid-question, looked back at the group. A moment later he mirrored Ryohime's surprised intake of breath.

"Oh."

Ryohime didn't reply, didn't have anything to add this time. She watched, stunned, as the Fourth Division hurried back inside, taking their patient with them. Ichigo followed, a little slower, looking dazed.

"This... this must be it," Ryohime finally said, looking at Vance with an expression of near terror. "The day I was born. The day... my mother dies."

.

Vance waited with Ryohime, who was waiting with Ichigo outside the infirmary _despite_ the fact that he wouldn't be able to hear or see her. For a long while, they sat in silence, Vance feeling like an outsider in a very private family moment. When he suggested he stay outside, though, Ryohime had shaken her head emphatically. She needed someone who could actually be with her.

After many long, long minutes, Ryohime sighed.

"I never knew he took her to Soul Society afterwards," she said, and Vance latched onto the conversation hook almost desperately.

"Oh, really? He never said?"

Ryohime shook her head. "I only ever knew she died when I was born. It makes sense, though... if something was going wrong that humans couldn't fix, he _would_ go to the Fourth Division." She laced her fingers together, leaned on her knees. "He always said he tried everything. Should have known. But... she dies anyway." She glanced over at her father, who was of course unaware of the conversation going on beside him. He still looked frantic, worried... but there was a hopeful light in his eyes.

"Are you _sure_ it's today?" Vance ventured. "Maybe this is something else... some other medical emergency that she survives."

"No," replied Ryohime, shaking her head again. "I can sense it. Don't ask how, I don't have a clue, but... I can tell."

Vance looked away awkwardly, then hesitantly held out one arm to give Ryohime a half-hug. He knew better then to trust himself to _say_ something encouraging, but he couldn't just do nothing.

Ryohime seemed to appreciate the gesture, at least.

Something, however, dawned on Vance with this revelation. Something he knew he couldn't look into until Ryohime's crisis was well and truly over, but he knew he wouldn't be able to rest easy until he had. If this was Ryohime's zero'th birthday... then his would be in only a few months. And Ryohime wasn't the only one with parents in Seireitei.

Unlike Ryohime, who had never meet her mother until now, Vance had always remembered just enough of his father to truly hate the man for "abandoning" them. It was only during the events of the Aizen Incident that Vance learned what had really happened, that his father had tried to return to Seireitei during the time-stop, and had undoubtedly died in the warped Dangai as a result.

Years of hatred, suddenly defused. And now, as far as Vance was concerned, he might just have a second chance to get to know his dad, without all those years of resentment coloring what few memories he had from his own toddler years.

But not yet.

Not until Ryohime could spare him.

Today, at least, was all hers.

.

It was that night, lying awake on the roof of the future Fourteenth Division warehouse and thinking about the day, that Ryohime finally pinned down the origin of that strange feeling. An entire bundle of flowers, Vance's surprise, lay nearby, though they had become a bittersweet present considering the events of the day.

She had been right; there had been nothing Seireitei's healers could do to save her mother. Ichigo had been... shocked by the news, to say the least. Thankfully Rukia, and after a while Renji and Shihoin Yoruichi (apparently her father and Shihoin Taichou were firm friends even back then- back now?) had shown up, and provided the comfort Ryohime had been helpless to give.

She had stuck by Ichigo anyway, practically haunting him, until he had finally gone back to the World of the Living. The Fourth Division had promised to send the body back as well, the next day. Back to the World of the Living, where at this moment, Ryohime herself would be crying her way through her first night.

A brand new, second-generation Shinigami Daiko.

A Kurosaki, destined to live by the Zanpakuto.

.

.

.

_A Zanpakuto, the direct reflection of the Shinigami's soul. They are born with the Shinigami, and die along with their Shinigami. _

_That is what Zanpakuto are._


	54. Interlude 24

Interlude

.

_"Are you sure it won't damage her own Shinigami powers?"_

_"This is unprecedented. One does not simply hand down a Zanpakuto. It doesn't happen."_

_"Muramasa should have died years ago, anyway. This is a foolish idea..."_

_"Do you think it's even possible?"_

_"Can you do it, Muramasa? Can you treat my daughter with the dedication she deserves from her Zanpakuto?"_

_._

**To save one Zanpakuto...**

.

_"Muramasa... if this works, you will be my daughter's Zanpakuto. She will never be able to create her own. ... I don't want her growing up and ever regret that we did this..."_

_"She's three years old."_

_"We can talk to Urahara..."_

_"We'll be careful."_

.

… **They sacrificed another to never exist.**

.


	55. Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Twenty-Nine

"How did you know?"

Charles looked at Steve in confusion. "What do you mean, _how did I know?_" he asked. "How did I know what?"

"About Caro's favourite trick being turning allies on one another. You mentioned it when you first joined the fight against General Tsukishima." Steve adjusted his cracked glasses knowingly. "I thought it odd at the time, but it wasn't exactly the best time to question it. Now, though... I'm very curious. What method of information-gathering do you have that we don't know about?"

Charles let out a wry chuckle. "Should have known you'd catch that." He glanced at where the others were all lined up, getting kido first-aid from Kitsune and Erina. "Don't tell Seireitei, alright?" When Steve nodded, Charles took a deep breath and admitted, "I stole a butterfly."

Steve whistled. "Well, now. I'm impressed."

"I've usually got it locked in a jar back home," Charles continued. "I heard the war declaration, and then recently there was an announcement about how looking in Caro's eyes allowed him to turn people over to his side."

"_Usually_ locked in a jar? Where is it now?"

"I've got one of those journals with a lock that travels with me. I cut out a space in the pages, and it makes a decent travel case for the little spirit bug." Charles tucked a finger under a thin chain around his neck and pulled it up, revealing a key at the end. "It'd be easy enough to tamper with and find the butterfly if someone knew what they were doing, but at least this will keep the casual snoops out."

Steve shook his head, clapping slowly. "You absolute sneak. Why did I never think of that?"

Charles seemed rather embarrassed, and quickly changed the subject. "Anyway, what's the plan now? If that guy was telling the truth, then he is, was, one of Caro's generals. There should be other generals, from what I hear, along with Caro himself... and any number of poor people he's mentally captured."

"What are you suggesting, going to Seireitei?" Steve asked skeptically. "Even if we could, what exactly would involving ourselves there do to help? We'd just be more fuel to the flame of war."

"Hah!" Edward shouted from the makeshift first-aid station. "Line from Kami Katana! So you _are_ reading them!"

Steve groaned. "You wouldn't shut up about that chapter for weeks, and you got it stuck in my head! I am _not_ reading that second-rate adventure garbage."

Edward turned back, still grinning his very Arrancar-like grin, and Steve shook his head in dismay at his foolish brother's antics.

"Anyway, the point is I don't see what we could do there that the captains and officers can't already do. The Fourteenth Division is based in this world, I'm not even sure we'd be inside our jurisdiction to involve ourselves in a Seireitei incident."

"Since when has jurisdiction mattered to anyone here?" Charles asked pointedly. Steve silently conceded the point.

"But the fact remains that we _can't_, not until tomorrow. The Dangai is under reconstruction, and we may already... may have already _lost_ Ryohime and Vance to it. We're stuck in the World of the Living for now. Besides, we just took out one of his _generals_, let's not belittle that accomplishment. Especially considering some of you had the rest of us to fight at the same time..."

Charles brightened and snapped his fingers, apparently having not paid any attention to the last few sentences. "No, we're not stuck! Yylfordt!"

Yylfordt looked up from cleaning blood off his arm. "Yes?" he called, looking a little confused to be singled out.

"I don't suppose you can make a Garganta again, can you?"

Yylfordt's brow furrowed. "I think so. It's not exactly been tested, but I feel I should be able to. Why?"

Charles snapped his fingers again, this time to indicate a point rather then communicate a sudden idea. "See?"

Steve decided not to mention that he had _actually_ thought of that before, but then forgot about it in his preoccupation with saving San- Tsukishima. "Good idea. I'd be willing to bet that Caro's base of operations is in Hueco Mundo anyway, and even if we can't find it, we could just go straight to Seireitei from there. Not that I see any point to the latter, but... it's something to consider if nothing else comes up."

"When do you think we could mobilize?" Charles asked Erina, walking over to the station so they could all talk without shouting. The time for secrets in the corner was past. "How is everyone?"

Erina and Kitsune exchanged glances. Their patients exchanged some glances, too.

"We shouldn't-" began Erina cautiously.

"To be properly safe-" began Kitsune at the same moment.

"Ready to ship out, Lieutenant!" declared Edward loudly, overpowering the voices of their Division healers. "We can always rest after this is all over."

"Sounds like something Vance would say," muttered Herald to himself as he lay back on his lounging rock, but everyone else had begun voicing approval or disapproval with Edward's statement. There was no hearing him over the noise.

"Listen!" called Steve, then waited until everyone quieted down. "I've formulated a plan that I think will suit both sides. Charles and I were thinking that we could head to Hueco Mundo immediately, try to aid Seireitei by taking the fight back to Caro. Yes, most of us are injured and tired, but we also don't yet know where the enemy's base is. It will take time, and Erina and Kitsune can be finishing their healings on the way."

"We can take it easy," Charles agreed. "Conserve our strength until we find Caro's base, _if_ we find it, and even then we can wait to strike until we're ready. Seireitei knows nothing about this, they're not waiting on us or counting on a prompt assault. Correct me if I'm wrong, but they haven't even recalled us to help in the defence."

Erina cleared her throat. "We would be risking a lot for an uncertain gain. Do we even know Caro has a hideout in Hueco Mundo?"

"But where else could he hide an army?" Edward protested. "Not the World of the Living, and certainly not in Seireitei."

Herald sighed, then pushed himself up from his rock. "What about Dikayumi?" he asked, and Steve hesitated.

"Kitsune can stay and keep an eye on him," he suggested. "We can't _kill_ him, we can't bring him, we can't leave him here alone."

"Feels like we'd be abandoning him, though," Erina muttered, and Herald gestured in agreement.

"Yes, it would. We've already got people missing in action, and Dikayumi is practically lost now, too. It doesn't feel right to lock him in a Bakudo and leave without him."

Steve threw up his hands. "What would you have us do? Sit here and wait for the next attack from Caro's generals? Or what if Caro decides to take care of us himself? We need to get the jump on _him_ for once."

"Or," Herald snapped, standing abruptly, "you're just looking for an excuse to find another fight." His tone was hard, cold, and very unlike himself. "I think you're just feeling guilty about falling for that general's tricks, and you're now out to prove something."

"So what if I am?" Steve retorted angrily, stalking across the sand to face Herald up close. "How can I not feel guilty about fighting my own brother for a stranger? My _points_ are still valid; we should be-"

"News flash, it's not just you!" Herald barked. "There are other people to think about here. We have wounded, Dikayumi is a Hollow now, and Ryohime and Vance are _gone_. At least your brother is still standing here!"

There was a hush. Steve reeled as if he had been slapped.

Herald rubbed his chin hard, looking away in disgust. "But, you know what...? You're a lieutenant too. So go ahead and lead your charge. I'm staying here to try and figure out how to help Dikayumi, and hold down Karakura against any more enemy attacks. And if Seireitei _does_ try to contact us, they'll have someone to contact." He glanced at Erina for just a moment. "If anyone has misgivings about this raid, stay. I officially counter any lieutenant-like orders or implied orders regarding this offensive or about anyone being _especially_ needed."

Steve's eyes blazed. "You're really going there?" he hissed, and Herald gave him a sideways glare.

"Yeah, I am. You've always enjoyed being a Lieutenant more then me, and I wouldn't put it past you to usurp that authority to get something you want."

The pressure in the basement was intense, pressing down hard enough to give Kitsune trouble breathing. Herald didn't react to the murderous glares Steve was sending him, instead walking away to settle down some distance away from the group, near where the Black Hollow was restrained.

He sighed again, deeply, shoving aside the whole raid problem. He looked down at his hands, clenched them experimentally... then cracked a smile when Lilynette's head pushed into his arms.

_I demand headrub_, she said, closing her eyes expectantly. Herald obediently began scratching behind her ears in a preoccupied manner.

"I wonder if they're alright," he muttered to her, and Lilynette just flicked an ear. "I'm going to regret losing my temper back there... aren't I?"

_Oh, yes. Yes you are._

"Yeah, well... still need to be said. Steve expects everyone to obey him. But this time we can't afford to be lead blindly. He's acting emotionally, and they all have to think about what he's actually proposing."

Lilynette shook herself free and looked Herald seriously in the eyes. _Is this my Starrk talking? _

Herald shoved her snout out of his face. "Oh, cut it out. I'm just being responsible for once."

Lilynette considered him for a moment more, then laid her head back down on his knee.

_Continue scratching._

...

_Ryohime opened her eyes to a new light._

_The dull, lifeless sky had darkened, deepened, into full night. High above hung a huge, beautiful full moon, which shone down on the ice and sent light sparkling over the entire frozen sea like fairies. Wisps of mist were drifting across the surface. Ryohime's breath caught in her throat._

_The sea almost looked like it was on fire with silver flames. The mist, the moonlight, the ice... all of it fit together and complimented the other elements flawlessly. This, she knew instantly, was what her inner world had been made to look like. _

_The icebergs were still empty, though. The rocks, without inhabitant. For a moment, Ryohime wondered if she had been mistaken after all, for it seemed she was still alone._

_She tensed a moment later, feeling eyes on her. She glanced up and down the beach, squinting to try and locate... whoever it was. No one. The white sand was empty save for the rocks. _

_"Hello?" she called, but there was no response but the echoes of her own voice. Echoing off the cliffs..._

_Ryohime turned, and there, sitting on the top of the shallow but endless cliff behind her, she saw him. He wore a hood and cloak, and the moon falling directly down on the hood cast his face into deep and obscuring shadow. She could see at once, though, that it wasn't a very large person, closer to Vance's build then Muramasa's. _

_"Who are you?" asked Ryohime, seeing no reason to beat around the bush. The figure's head moved slightly as he (or, Ryohime thought, possibly a she) replied, but Ryohime heard nothing but a shallow cracking and a sound like chunks of ice scrapping against one another. _

_She frowned. "Are you a Zanpakuto?"_

_The figure tilted its head, as if puzzled by her question. "What else would I be?" The voice was definitely male, but not as deep as Muramasa's. It would have almost sounded childish by comparison, if it hadn't been so grim._

_Ryohime took a breath, her heart hammering. She had figured the likely scenario, but now that she was confronting that scenario it scared her. "So you're my... original Zanpakuto. The one I was born with."_

_"Original?" the Zanpakuto asked. "Born with?" He rose, his cloak (looking far too big for him) fluttering out over the cliff in a breeze Ryohime did not feel. "You speak like someone I don't know. Are you an intruder, then, cunningly taking the guise of my Shinigami?"_

_Ryohime wasn't convinced she liked this new fellow. He seemed a lot less approachable then Muramasa had been._

_"How do you even exist, though?" she asked, ignoring his question. "I was only just born in the proper timeline today, shouldn't you be a little more... conceptual? Less mature?" _

_Her question, though, seemed to irk the Zanpakuto. He turned away abruptly, his cloak swirling behind._

_"You are confusing matters," he snapped, and there was a soft _shing_ of metal. Moonlight shone off a bright blade. "Today? Mature? None of that matters here. What matters is that you cannot hear, and you're thinking of everything except _learning_ to hear."_

_He turned his head, and Ryohime saw his eyes flash with reflected light. "Only I can teach you."_

So,_ Ryohime thought as the Zanpakuto threw himself off the cliff, flashing towards her with sword drawn. _No shortcuts this time, no hand-me-downs. I'll have to learn his name for myself. Like a normal Shinigami.

_She hissed through her teeth and jumped away, worry gripping her tightly. _

But I don't know _how_ normal Shinigami do this...


	56. Interlude 25

Interlude

_We had to decide, eventually, to stop asking "How?"_

_This trip back in time was not a thing of Kido, or science, or any other logical power of the universe. It was not ordered and sensible, something we could figure out if we just thought about it and studied it. This was an accident, and the only thing we could tell for sure was that we had been placed in the state we were in so that the damage to the future could be most effectively minimized. _

_What, exactly, made that call, we will never know. Maybe it was the Soul King, if he even has that kind of power. Maybe it was something else, even greater then the Soul King, trying to protect reality. Or maybe it was simply Time, protecting itself against our tampering._

_We agreed the latter is the most likely, a reaction by simple, unscheming time, as nothing else about what happened during those years seems to have mattered. We talked ourselves in circles, and nearly drove ourselves mad trying to find the logic behind it all. Eventually, the only option was to stop thinking._

_We did that very well, in the end._


	57. Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty

Urai stood on the tip of Sogyoku Hill, watching.

From the depths of the secret training cave, he could barely sense any of what happened in Seireitei. He suspected there were safeguards in place to block reiatsu from inside so even the strongest Shinigami could train there without their reiatsu giving them away. The problem was that it also blocked him from sensing fighting outside. So he came up every so often to scout from a safe distance.

Things had been silent before now. The lull, as it were, before the storm. But now the storm had struck, and the air in Seireitei shook under the pressure of the battles.

He could sense the Kuchiki Taichous battling in First Division territory. He couldn't sense Caro or any other Arrancar-level threat in the area, which left Urai to wonder... who were the three Kuchikis fighting?

What was easier to read was the assault on the Twelfth Division. Kurosaki Ichigo seemed to be leading Caro's assault team, which was concerning. The Twelfth Division had their own captain, yes, but Kurosaki Taichou was legendary, considered by many to be a rival of the Elder Captains. If he had gone over to Caro's side...

Things didn't look good.

Urai put a hand on his Zanpakuto, his instincts demanding he go down and help in the defence. He almost did, but then a shiver of sheer blackness ran through him, and he dropped to his knees, gagging.

He was out of medicine. Every time the darkness came on him now, it was stronger, darker, more evil.

Strangely, though, his memories of _before_ seemed stronger too. He could actually picture the alley in Rukon District 98, North, where he had lived. If... _lived_ was the right word.

_How could I have forgotten,_ he wondered at times, thinking back. _How could I have possibly forgotten that pit of a home?_ Ever since his admittance into the Academy, it had been hard to remember, the details slipping away. Maybe he had tried to forget about it on purpose, maybe it was just the Rukongai sickness...

But something inside of him, something cold and analytical, insisted there was more to it. Something more sinister.

_How come I can remember it better now then when I was taking my medicine?_

He shook his head, trying to bury that dark part of him back down. Now was not the time to doubt Seireitei. They all had enough problems to deal with.

And Urai had been formulating a plan.

It required more power, though, then he currently had, so he reluctantly turned and jumped off the cliff, towards the hidden ledge and entrance to the training cave. His thoughts were in turmoil, and his Zanpakuto was being unresponsive. He couldn't take on anyone like this. First, he needed to straighten out everything that was wrong with him. _Then_ he would be in a position to try and help save Seireitei.

In the meanwhile, he would train.

...

Rukia found herself crying as she fought.

She hadn't cried in decades. It had never been necessary before and she knew her brother would disapprove, but now... she just couldn't help it. They froze on her cheeks, an icy trail from her eyes to her jaw.

She stood between Byakuya and Renji - her beloved brother and her husband -... and Caro, an enemy of Seireitei. Her heart was being tugged in two directions, and while her mind told her stubbornly that the choice should be clear, it wasn't. She couldn't fight them, and she couldn't not fight them.

Frost was creeping outward, coating everything around them in white. She had been hoping beyond hope that they would give up the fight when she released her bankai, but of course neither moved to retreat. _Curse you men for being so stubborn._

Renji launched into a flash-step, trying to get around her, and with a cry Rukia was forced into action again. Sode no Shirayuki and Zabimaru clashed, and instantly ice began snaking around Renji's Zanpakuto.

_He's wearing that silly visor again,_ Rukia thought, driving forward to knock him off balance. _I always wondered if he kept them hidden away somewhere..._

The men weren't using bankai, either of them. Byakuya probably would, though, before much longer. Rukia knew him well enough to know what lengths he would go to in situations like these.

She also knew him well enough, unfortunately, to know he would never kill her. She was the only one in Seireitei Byakuya would never kill, and she had told Caro just that. That was why she was here now, facing him.

The thought of what, exactly, she would like to do to Caro some day crossed Rukia's mind, and immediately her heart constricted, her stomach lurched. She gasped in pain and Renji knocked her back in that moment of distraction. She tried to regain her footing, stop him from getting past, but as she lunged Byakuya appeared to block her blow.

"Go," he said, and Rukia knew he was talking to Renji. She gritted her teeth, jumping back to give herself room to stop Renji, but Byakuya hounded her, not letting up long enough for a switch.

Out of the corner of her eye, Rukia saw Renji flash-step away. Off to the First Division barracks... off to fight Caro.

A scream built in Rukia's throat. She couldn't stand this! A jagged streak of ice flashed like lightning in the air, aimed for Renji's back.

Byakuya intercepted again, shattering the ice before it could reach its target. In one swift movement, even as the ice shards began to grow in sharp jagged branches around him, he had his shikai reassemble itself and dropped the complete sword into the ground.

Rukia's growing forest of ice against Byakuya's ten-thousand blades. Two bankais that killed with uncountable small wounds, rather then a single powerful one. Torn to shreds on razor shards of ice... or slivers of metal so thin as to be nearly invisible, save for the reflections.

Another tear joined the frozen tracks on Rukia's cheeks. She had never wanted to use this particular bankai on her family. She didn't even like using it against enemies...

She wasn't Byakuya. She couldn't do this. Her heart wasn't so cold, even in bankai.

Her heart skipped a beat as she let her Zanpakuto slip from her fingers. Shame hit with crushing pain at the betrayal, and even breathing became more then she could handle. As darkness claimed her, she felt the vast, conflicting emotions of absolute relief and utter remorse. She would not fight her brother for Caro.

Her heart, pulled in opposite directions so violently, finally broke.

...

Caro watched from afar, leaning against the railings of the First Captain's balcony as the Kuchiki brothers-in-law assaulted his new fortress. It had been with twisted glee that he ordered the woman of the so-called "Noble House" to intercept the two.

The pressure from their fight reached far, pressing down even on Caro's shoulders with a certain degree of intensity. Nothing truly frightening, of course, but still impressive for Shinigami. Their powers, which of the three proved stronger, mattered little to him – his Kuchiki would do her duty, or die in the attempt. It would be a delightful victory either way. She had resented his command so _very_ much.

Now, Kuchiki _Byakuya_ was a man who understood duty. It had taken a long time for Caro to give up on the idea of claiming him, but, ultimately, the brain of that man was too convoluted for even Caro to unravel. The Arrancar had done his research.

(And it seemed his little noblewoman was getting overwhelmed. Though, only one of her opponents appeared intent on fighting her; the other kept to a distance and tried to flash-step around her when there was an opening...)

Kuchiki Byakuya was the one person Caro knew he would never risk trusting. He would always be wondering if the man's obedience was an act, a ploy to gain trust just in order to set an unbeatable trap. It was a well-documented fact that the Sixth Division captain would go to extreme lengths, unthinkable lengths, to convince someone he was on their side, outside all logic, just to turn on them in the end.

(Ah, the one slipped past his captain's guard. She tried to chase him down, but now it was her turn to be intercepted.)

No, the Head of the Kuchiki Clan would never be allowed into the Dioses Muerte, however much Caro longed to try and see what would happen. It was simply too risky. Killing him would be far safer in the long run.

The third Kuchiki finally arrived, appearing on the roof opposite him with a strange visor pulled down over his eyes and his sword held ready. Caro eyed him, almost impressed.

"Really, for a man renowned for his straightforward, simple ways, this is actually rather clever. Trying to avoid my powers by scrambling them digitally... an interesting thought for a Shinigami."

"And here I thought you were supposed to be above petty insults," Kuchiki Renji replied, to which Caro smiled.

"I'm just being honest. I like honesty, and there's not nearly enough of it in my life." He tried anyway, while they were talking. You could never have enough captain-level slaves.

No reaction. So, it did work. Of all Shinigami, _he_ would be the first one to face Caro on truly equal footing.

Caro couldn't help it, he started chuckling. He spun his Zanpakuto between his fingers, pouring energy back into that empty shell of a blade.

"Very well, then, Kuchiki Taichou. Let us fight fairly, then. It should be a novel experience."

His Resurrección returned to its sealed form for the first time in days, replacing that unused sword with his trusty staff. The familiar weight of it, along with the prospect of the fight ahead, reacted strangely in Caro's mind. Instead of hypnotic energy, his eyes burned with simple excitement.

He hadn't fought anyone properly in years. He had nearly lost himself in the part of the player, simply moving pieces around and watching from above.

_But I'm one of the pieces too,_ he thought, smiling to himself. _An Arrancar._ _A Hollow._

_And I haven't acted like a proper Hollow in decades._


	58. Interlude 26

Interlude

_Arrarrico Caro sat on a hilltop, staring out over the vast emptiness of Hueco Mundo. In the distance, he could just make out a pair of Adjuchas battling it out, each one trying desperately to avoid getting bitten even while trying to kill the other._

_Fear. Anger. The driving emotions of Caro's fellow Hollows._

_The Vasto Lorde sighed, adjusting his position. He lay on his stomach, his chin resting on his crossed arms. His forked tongue flicked out, tasting the air._

_Fear and anger._

_It's all Hueco Mundo ever tasted of._

I'm so tired of it,_ Caro thought, watching the far off fight with little interest. _There has to be more then this.

_A little Hollow lizard scurried out of the sand, settled down next to him. His radiant reiatsu alone was probably a feast to the little, non-sentient creature. Caro slowly stretched out a hand, trying not to alarm it, then struck once he was in range, his hand moving almost faster then the blink of an eye._

_The Hollow squeaked helplessly as his fingers closed around it. Caro eased his grip, not meaning to crush the useless creature, and brought it closer so he could examine it._

_"What a cute Hollow," he said, scratching its head. "You wouldn't taste of fear, would you? At least not enough to notice. You can hardly feel anything..."_

Is this what I have come to_? he thought, as he pet the lizard. _Fear of losing myself is no longer a driving motivation, so what is there now to do?

_The lizard squirmed, trying to get away, so Caro grabbed its head and forced it to lock eyes with him. It whimpered, then relaxed. He let it go and it crawled up his arm, perched on his shoulder contentedly._

What am I doing with myself?

_He, unlike the lizard, was not content. He couldn't fool himself into thinking things were fine just as they were. Hueco Mundo itself disappointed him, it seemed nothing more, or less, then a dumping ground for the scum of the afterlife to destroy one another..._

_Not a place for a Vasto Lorde. Or even the Adjuchas. Once they regained their identities, this empty, ugly world was no fit place for them._

_"We're alive, in a sense," he told the lizard, who looked at him with big, solemn eyes. "We are aware, so why should we be content with this... wasteland? Why do we stay here when we could be somewhere bright and alive?"_

_The lizard had no answer for him. _

Because the Shinigami only leave us alone when we're in Hueco Mundo_, he reasoned. The Adjuchas fight was settling down, it looked like the victor was claiming his prize. Not that it would satisfy him. Until either he died or went on to become a Vasto Lorde, nothing would satisfy. Caro remembered that well._

_The constant terror. The constant anger._

_Abruptly, Caro rose. His eyes narrowed behind his mask._

_"There's something more out there for us," he told his lizard. "I can feel it, and I'm going to find it." _


	59. Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-One

Vance stood in the Eighth Division barracks next to the dad he barely knew, practicing his swordplay.

"Ryohime still isn't back," he said between huffs of breath. "She's been in her inner world, fighting her Zanpakuto, for nearly two days this time. I don't get why this original fellow is here now and not Muramasa, but there it is. I dunno, Dad, but it sure seems like time travel just doesn't make as much sense in real life as it does in movies."

His dad, of course, couldn't hear him, but Vance preferred the sound of his own voice to no voice at all. And at this early hour, no one else was using the training grounds but the two of them.

Vance had followed his Shinigami father around for weeks now, ever since he had finally found him. Ryohime had her Zanpakuto now anyway, and was busy trying to beat 'the jerk' (as she called it) into submission, so Vance found himself with lots of extra free time. Lots of time to see the side of his dad he had never seen before. Not just a picture on the mantle, and a name that made his mom look sad, but the real thing. The living and actual Kimura Josuke, Eighth Division seventh-seat.

"It seems a little silly," Vance said, stepping forward to mirror his dad's lunge. "She's working on, for all intents and purposes, her second shikai, something that shouldn't actually be possible by the system of Zanpakutos I'm familiar with. And here I've never gotten my sword to talk to me, except that once. All that Hollow power, and I could never get it to respond." He lunged again, his Zanpakuto passing right through the target dummy. His dad's sword thudded satisfyingly into the straw. "Now it's too late."

Conversations were a lot less useful when they were entirely one-sided.

"I get why she had to do it, of course," he added hastily, a little guiltily. "And I don't blame her. I'd be dead or worse if she hadn't gone bankai on me, and I really am thankful for that. And it's not like Vega, or the personification of Vega's power at least, was cooperating with me anyway. We had one conversation one time, just enough for him to promise he'd be there when I needed him..."

He lunged again, brow furrowing. "I still can't figure out if he was lying on purpose then, or if something else happened. I was really trying to connect, for my part. But he never _was_ there for me, not once. He wasn't a very good Zanpakuto at all."

Josuke stopped for a moment for a drink. Even though it was early morning, it had been pretty hot lately. Vance leaned on his Zanpakuto while he waited for the break to be over - it wasn't nearly as satisfying to swing at a target that wasn't being hit _at all_.

"I mean... he promised, and I believed him," he repeated, a little weakly. It sounded like whining, even to him. "Still... I suppose it makes sense, in a crooked sort of way. He said himself he was a good pretender."

Saying that out loud made Vance stop. The memory was wrong.

"Wait_,_" he muttered. "_Wait_ just a second."

Not pretender. He had never said "pretender."

"_I'm also very good at impersonations."_

"I," he declared as his dad returned from the porch, "have been making assumptions."

Kimura Josuke went back to repetitive practice swings.

"All this time I have been assuming that was the manifestation of my Hollow past's powers that spoke to me that day, but... what if it wasn't?" Vance looked down at the Zanpakuto in his hands. "What if that was something else? Something from you?"

The only sound in the training ground was the repeated thwack of sword on dummy.

"What if..." he continued slowly, pondering it out even as he spoke. "What if all that training, all my attempts to connect, _was_ the actual problem? Because I never considered my Shinigami powers being separate from the Hollow. With everyone else making contact with their old lives, in one form or another, it's all I was thinking about. All I was focused on." His eyes widened. "I was obsessed with Vega and his powers, but what if, all this time, it was the powers _you_ passed down to me that were actually dominant?"

The idea simultaneously excited and terrified Vance. If he was right, then that shape-shifting tiger was still inside him somewhere. And Vance had been, unknowingly, not only ignoring him, but trying to find an entirely different source of power. And this was _after_ he – the _Shinigami_ Zanpakuto – had revealed himself, promised to be there when Vance called.

An image from one of Ryohime's stories came to mind. Muramasa, in his original Shinigami's world, waiting for a call that never came...

"If I was him," he whispered, "I'd... kinda hate me."

There was no response. Of course. Josuke continued to smack away at his target, totally clueless as to the significant realization his time-traveling son had just made.

Vance stared at his Zanpakuto, suddenly unsure. Even if he was right... what did it mean? What could he do now? He hadn't been overly successful originally, in fact it seemed a rather generous move on his Zanpakuto's part to have revealed himself at all. In the ways of the Shinigami, Vance knew next to nothing.

Next to him, his dad diligently whacked away, just like he did every day.

Training with the sword.

Day after day after day...

"Nothing else for it, eh?" Vance said finally, taking his stance again. "I'm not Herald, after all. I can't take a nap and expect to find my powers." He began again, each swing mirroring his dad's. "So let's do it your way. Please, teach me to learn like a regular Shinigami, Dad!"

.

_Ryohime missed Muramasa._

_The Zanpakuto in her hands, wherever it had come from, seemed very generic (and rather puny) compared to Muramasa's sealed form. That Zanpakuto had been thrumming with potential, and Ryohime had always known Muramasa was waiting and ready for the call to battle. This lump of metal was just that, a lump of metal. Nothing more. It had no spirit, no inner strength. Its only virtue was that one edge was honed enough to be capable of cutting, and the tip was pointy._

_"You're distracted."_

_The new Zanpakuto spirit appeared next to her, slashing down with his own Zanpakuto. Ryohime ducked, raising her spiritless toy to block._

This is humiliating.

_The two swords clashed, and Ryohime had to jump back. The sword weighed heavily in her hand, and it made it hard to fight as she should be able to. _

_Ryohime wasn't used to having to fight handicapped. All through her childhood, she had been holding a Zanpakuto. She had known his name from the age of three, and achieved a shikai-level understanding with him at nine. Every fight she had fought from that early age, she had fought with a Zanpakuto who was a very extension of her own soul._

_The downgrade left a bitter taste in her mouth, and an angry tightness in her throat._

_She had achieved bankai. Even though he scared her, she had achieved _bankai_, and it had been one of the proudest achievements of her life. _

_And now she was fighting with a... a _stick_. Against someone who should never have existed._

...

She jerked back into the real world with a growl. "You don't get to kick me out!" she screamed in frustration, then realized he probably wasn't listening.

Ryohime cursed under her breath, then rose, stretching her cramped legs. She had no idea how long that last session had lasted, but it felt like at least a day, maybe more. Vance would probably be off training, like usual, though what good he thought it would do she couldn't guess. There was only so much strength one could acquire through physical training alone.

She clenched her eyes shut, shaking her head. "Stop that, Ryohime," she scolded aloud. _That was a very nasty thought_. She sighed, lying back against the floor.

Her frustrating trips to her inner world were slowly turning her into a grouch. Vance's stubborn insistence in continuing physical training was one of the things that made him who he was – it wasn't something to scorn. She rubbed her hands over her face, trying to clear her thoughts.

As if summoned by those thoughts, Ryohime felt Vance running towards her from the Eighth Division. She sat up, hoping she would be able to keep herself from snapping or sounding rotten. _It's all that condescending jerk's fault_, she protested silently in advance.

Vance, on the other hand, seemed to be beaming with cheerfulness. He landed on the roof and plopped right down, cross-legged, grinning from ear to ear.

"Hey, can you fight me?" he asked brightly.

Ryohime frowned. "Fight you?"

"Yeah! I need an opponent, or training will end up being pretty bland, right? Besides, I've been studying how the guys at the academy train with their Zanpakutos, how seated officers do it, and everything seems to boil down to fighting intense battles and meditating." Vance gestured around them. "You're the only person in the world I can fight with. So, how about it?"

"I suppose." A thought came to Ryohime, and she smiled slightly. "In fact, if we're going to be training, I know the absolutely perfect place to do it."

...

The secret training room was deserted, it looked like no one had used it in years. Vance chuckled to himself as he looked around.

"It's just like the one under Kitsune's shop," he commented happily. "Yep, this will almost feel like home. So... how was the inner world training session?" he added as he headed out into the sand. Ryohime sighed.

"Not good. I can't figure out how people do this. The jerk's not nearly as cooperative as Muramasa was, and I still have no idea what I can do to change it. Seems... kind of futile at this point, actually."

Vance hesitated. "Oh. That's too bad. Well, I suppose all we can to is keep training, right? If we work hard, then at least it won't be our faults if they don't respond."

There was something in his tone that made Ryohime suspicious. "Did something happen while I was mediating?" she asked. "You sound kind of like you did that night when the _Kami Katana_ anime's pilot episode came out and you drank an entire pot of coffee."

"Well... kinda." He looked a little embarrassed. "I wasn't going to mention it with your Zanpakuto being such a stinker, but I think... I might just have a chance still with mine. I think I might actually have been the sticking point all along, and you and Muramasa might have _removed_ a distraction as well as saving my life when you severed my connection with Vega."

"Oh, that's great!" Ryohime exclaimed, trying to sound more happy then she felt about it. It _would_ be great if Vance finally figured out his Zanpakuto, and Ryohime knew that if her own training session hadn't ended so poorly she'd be ecstatic at the news.

"So," said Vance, whirling around to face her. "That's why I did the research on how the real Shinigami do it. We both might benefit from some good hard training, and we're, frankly, all we've got."

Ryohime hesitated, then drew her Zanpakuto. Muramasa's Zanpakuto, though he no longer seemed to be present.

"You're right," she agreed, settling into a fighting stance. "And it's not like there's all that much else for us to do..."


	60. Interlude 27

Interlude

_We abandoned ourselves to training. It was, indeed, the only thing we could really do that seemed worthwhile, trapped as we were in a time we didn't belong to. _

_The only things we could affect were things that came with us from our time, or things with no bearing at all on the future. So we fought one another._

_It seemed a good idea at the time. A sensible idea. The only option, really. But we ended up going too far..._

_We began to lay down rules. Research seemed to indicate that simple training sessions would only go so far, and that it was only when one was pushed to the very edge that they were forced to find their hidden strength. But there was nothing dangerous for us to do, no Hollow to fight... so, once again, we fought one another._

_To the edge. And over the edge._

_Until the unthinkable had happened, without us even realizing it... _


	61. Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Two

Steve, Edward, Yylfordt, and Charles stepped out of the Garganta into the dull, colorless sand of Hueco Mundo.

Yylfordt's Garganta had been completely functional, despite his own concerns about being out of practice. Edward nodded in approval as he looked back at the black tear in the world, slapping his fraccion on the back fondly.

"Nice. That skill should come in handy."

Yylfordt smiled in response, pleased.

"Alright, now to search out Caro's lair," Steve said briskly. His pride still stung from Herald's words before they left, but he was determined not to let his co-lieutenant get to him. "If we can find some Hollows and question them, they might be willing to share news of any irregularities in Hueco Mundo workings. Should be a good place to start."

"He might be hiding out in Las Noches," Yylfordt suggested. "Baraggan was using it before Aizen, and it seems to be the sort of place to draw in lunatics."

"It's something to check out," agreed Steve as he looked around. "It would be convenient, if nothing else."

Edward hmmed thoughtfully. "Caro doesn't really seem the sort, though," he mused. "I mean, he might be a lunatic, but he seems less of a wanna-be king as much as a warlord, or... even a rebel."

"You think he'd settle somewhere less ostentatious, then?"

"Wouldn't surprise me. Still, you're right, finding someone who actually knows the modern layout of Hueco Mundo and the powers that be should be our first priority."

Charles squinted into the distance. "Has it occurred to anyone that nobody here is a Hollow anymore? Even Yylfordt is _technically_ still human, however little he feels like one. Do we have any reason to think that we could even get a Hollow to talk with us instead of just trying to eat us until we are forced to kill it in self-defence?"

"Do you have a better idea?" asked Steve impatiently, growing tired of these interruptions and pointless questions. "I know we're not in a terribly big hurry, but it would seem that there are better ways to spend our time then standing around _wondering_ while Seireitei is besieged."

"Alright, then," Edward jumped in hastily as Charles opened his mouth to retort. "Lead on then, little brother." He shot Charles a pointed glance, as if to say _drop it._

It took a while to find a Hollow, and when they did it, of course, tried to eat them. At this point, though, Steve was more then a little irritated at the constant passive-aggressive attacks on his leadership, and released his Zanpakuto to stop the Adjuchas in it's tracks.

"Listen well, Hollow," he snapped, both hands outstretched towards it. "Answer my questions, and you can get back to hunting or hiding or whatever it is you do. Refuse, and my brothers will tear you limb from limb."

He wasn't entirely sure that Yylfordt _or_ Edward would actually do that if he asked, but the Hollow didn't need to know that.

**"What are you?"** snarled the Hollow, straining to break free of Ningyōzukai's strings. **"Humans shouldn't be in Hueco Mundo..."**

"I'm asking the questions," Steve said coldly, twitching his fingers. The Hollow growled as it was forced to the ground like a bad dog. "Do you know of an Arrancar named Arrarrico Caro? If so, where is he based? Do you know of any large-scale organizations of Hollows, Shinigami, or any other beings in Hueco Mundo?"

**"Who doesn't?"** The Hollow glared at him defiantly. **"But why would I tell you? You're going to kill me in any event, aren't you, humans?"**

"Not necessarily," Edward said, walking closer. He stopped right in front of the Adjuchas's muzzle. "But why would you _not_ tell us, that's my question. You can't move, there are four of us, and we're all pretty dangerous. What has Caro done to earn your silence against these odds?"

**"He's Hollow," **the Adjuchas replied with a fanged grin. **"You're human. And **_**he**_** asked nicely."**

Steve hissed. "He asked you personally not to tell anyone where he is?"

**"Not just me. Plenty of us know where he is, and none of us will tell you. Caro is paving the way for a feast for all Hollow-kind... and I am not going to be the one to risk ruining that."**

"He's got them, hasn't he?" Charles muttered, and Edward sighed.

"Ah, well. Steve, let him go. We'll just have to do this the hard way."

With a muttered release, Edward transformed into his black and electric-blue feline form. Steve dropped the Hollow with a tiny smirk, and Edward grinned at the alarmed Adjuchas.

"I think Grimmjow's hungry," Steve suggested innocently to Yylfordt. Whether the Adjuchas had heard of the old Aizen regime or not, something about the situation definitely spooked him, and he immediately tore off into the desert. Edward didn't bother following, but sniffed the air, pacing around like a wolf picking up a scent.

In his released state, every sense was heightened, including his ability to sense reiatsu. It would take a while, with Hueco Mundo's size, but if Caro had his hideout somewhere around... Edward would sniff it out.

.

"I made the call."

Erina sat down next to Herald, poured herself a cup of tea. The shop seemed eerily empty, with only the two of them and Kitsune left. And, technically, Dikayumi downstairs, but... he wasn't much for company. On top of that, Herald was acting unnaturally grim and serious; he'd spent ages staring at the far wall in brooding silence.

After a long moment, Herald sighed, setting down his cup.

"I feel there's a lecture hanging over me somewhere," he muttered, and Erina shook her head.

"Not really. Things are... weird right now. That whole mess could have been handled better by all parties, but... I think you did the right thing." She stared at her tea, swirling it around a bit in her mug. "The safety of our friends should be the priority."

"I just hope we can fix him somehow," Herald sighed, leaning back on his hands. "I don't want to lose anyone else..."

Erina set down her tea and scooted around the table to give Herald a hug from the side. He grunted in surprise.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "About Ryohime and Vance. But they'll be back."

"I know," he said, relaxing slightly despite the unexpected comfort-hug. "If it's possible."

"It is," Erina replied firmly. "Remember the story of when Kurosaki Taichou got grazed by the Cleaner? He survived, totally unharmed. Which means that it is possible. The Mender isn't _that_ much scarier then the Cleaner, it just has a longer running time."

Herald carefully extracted himself from the hug. "No doubt you're right. I'm sure they're in Seireitei right now, probably finding her dad... or fighting some of Caro's minions. Defending the walls from invaders... Vance'll love that."

His words were empty. Erina could hear the lack of conviction in his voice.

_Are you just convinced you can't keep your friends...?_ she wondered, but didn't say anything more. Instead, she poured him more tea.

Tea and sleep. That's what they all needed. They had a guest coming soon, but in the meantime... tea and sleep.

.

The Twelfth Division buildings burned.

The stealth attack had been met with little initial resistance, but once they reached the laboratories... the Twelfth had put up quite a fight. Ichigo stood in a ruined lab, melted (or melting) equipment and pools of substances he didn't _want_ to identify all that remained inside the walls.

No bodies were left. What had happened to them was another detail of the fight Ichigo would rather not know.

Everything was silent now. The Muerte Silenciosa had moved on, securing the other areas. There was still fighting going on, deeper in and deeper down, but Ichigo preferred to avoid it. He would fight the seated officers if there was need, but otherwise it would be best for everyone if he just stayed out of it.

He wasn't used to it being so quiet. A normal day usually had a little mental chatter, but he had silenced his own inner voices. It wasn't entirely a conscious decision, but it was necessary to protect his sanity. Lock Zangetsu and Shiro where they belonged, in his inner world, and stash all the old relationships he should be thinking about in there with them. He could handle everything just fine, so long as they stayed out of conscious thought.

Or that's what he told himself. The silence, though... was a little harder to handle then he had expected.

A member of the Silent Death appeared in the half-melted doorway, saluting. "Captain, we found a seated officer who claims to be allied to Caro. No one can vouch for him, though, and he doesn't know the pass-phrase."

Ichigo nodded. "Lead the way."

…

Kaba the Fifth Seat found himself highly impressed.

"My, my... he even got Kurosaki Taichou?" he asked aloud as said Kurosaki Taichou walked into the room. "We knew he had gotten lots of the response team members under his eyes, but..."

Ichigo stopped in front of him, examined the small glass cube of an observation room in which the officer was still locked, then crossed his arms. "Well, this isn't quite what I imagined when they said they'd found a seated officer. Why are you in there?"

Kaba gestured at the unbreakable glass walls surrounding him. "This? It was a safety protocol, in case our research on how Caro hypnotizes his victims resulted in myself getting hypnotized." He grinned. "It did. Quite a fascinating line of research, actually, and I couldn't be happier to have had the opportunity to experience it firsthand. But you know, even though I'm sure Caro has a great reason for all this nonsense, I still can't figure why in the worlds he'd want to go _through_ all this nonsense. Think you could let me out? There are some ideas I want to run by him before this invasion is over."

Ichigo blinked, a little taken aback.

"Research?" he asked, confused. "While trapped in a glass cage?"

"We had video!" Kaba declared. "Eyeball cameras. Very handy. Urahara Taichou knows the secret now, of course, and he's probably concocting a method right now to counter it, so I really should get to Caro as soon as possible."

"How can we trust you?"

Kaba laughed, a tad of madness creeping into his tone. "Oh, please. I'm a fifth seat! And if I wasn't already loyal to Caro, do you really think I could get face-to-face with him for more then a few seconds before he fixed that?"

"Good point... fine. Stand over there."

Kaba complied, and Ichigo fired a Getsugatensho at the glass chamber. To his surprise the glass didn't shatter, it didn't even crack. Kaba raised a hand.

"The chamber is supposed to be unbreakable," he put in helpfully. Ichigo scowled.

"Bankai!"

_Alright, I need your power but you're not allowed to talk. If I start feeling guilty I might go nuts._

His powers seemed to agree. Ichigo tried again, though this time with a Hollowfied Getsugatensho compressed around his Zanpakuto itself. The sword bit through the glass like butter, and he carved out a jagged hole before releasing his bankai again.

Kaba took off both of his pairs of glasses and cleaned them off with his sleeve one after the other. "You're a little bit scary, you know," he commented, and Ichigo almost smiled.

"I would hope so, at this point. Come on, if you have information we should get going. If I know Urahara-san, anything he's allowed to come up with will throw a nasty wrench into the works..."


	62. Interlude 28

Interlude

_Caro was willing to wait._

_As a Vasto Lorde, he no longer felt the drive to _have to _accomplish things, it was enough to have a plan. When he tore his mask off, became an Arrancar, his drive returned. But this time it was a patient and calculated drive._

_He embraced the new side of himself, the side that imitated the Shinigami. They who claimed they were the gods of death. Maybe they were, Caro couldn't say for sure one way or another, but if they weren't gods, then he was going to see them dethroned._

_It was time, he thought, for Hollows to emerge from the darkness. Nothing else mattered to him other then that... at first._

_Plans changed._

_As he researched, learned about the world of the Shinigami, he discovered things like the balance of souls, the Soul King, the way the worlds worked and interacted with one another. Supremacy for Hollows sank into the background, the basis but no longer the focus. He reasoned that Seireitei was important, that balance must be maintained, and that there had to be tenders to the Dead._

_It took years, but in time Arrarrico Caro, the Hollow, lost himself. Buried alive under a schemer who wanted to be a God of Death._

_Thus, the Dioses Muerte was born._


	63. Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Three

The summons met Ichigo at the gates. A messenger was on his way out, and (noticing Ichigo) stopped long enough to relay his message before continuing beyond the walls.

_Caro calls all Generals, Captains, and Officers of the Dioses Muerte to an emergency strategy meeting. Meet in the former Second Division offices, captain's quarters._

"Well, what splendid timing!" Kaba declared cheerfully from beside Ichigo. "A strategy meeting!"

"I don't think you're invited. You said you were a fifth seat?"

"Indeed."

"Only Lieutenant level and higher are automatically included in 'officers', I think," Ichigo said. "Or that's what I gather from the two-minute briefing on Caro's policies... the point is, you wait out here until someone comes for you." He gestured at the two troops he had come along. "Stay here and watch him, will you?"

Kaba gasped, looking deeply offended. "Are you suggesting I'm not trustworthy?" he asked, peering over his glasses furiously. Ichigo nodded.

"That's exactly what I'm suggesting, at least until Caro clears you. If you're still here when I come back, though, that earns you points." With that, he turned and headed inside.

The office was packed. Caro didn't even seem to be there yet, but Ichigo saw Kurotsuchi Mayuri, Halibel (a familiar face he was a little surprised to see again), and several newly-recruited Shinigami officers he had known for years among the original Dioses Muerte members. Hisagi and Kira were practically skulking near the back of the room, the only captain-and-lieutenant team present. Captain Hitsugaya leaned against a side wall with a rather irritated expression, and Yumichika was arguing with one of Caro's Arrancar officers about mask aesthetics. Yoruichi's lieutenant was present as well – the Eighth Division had been hit hard in the initial battle.

None of the Shinigami would meet the others' eyes. Even being bound by loyalty to Caro didn't stop them from feeling the shame associated with turning on Seireitei.

They all felt the difference before Caro even got there, though what it actually was no one could quite pin down. Then the window shattered, and Caro appeared, perching on the rim with a rather strange smile.

"Thank you for coming," he said, though his tone was tinged with something unfamiliar. Ichigo had only ever heard Caro speak in an irritatingly knowing, smug kind of way, but that tone had changed.

"There has been a change in plans," Caro continued, stepping down from the window and pacing over to the desk in the middle of the room. "I have just taken part in a pair of battles that made me realize something vitally important."

He whirled, slamming both hands down hard on the desk. His eyes were practically burning with emotion.

"I've turned myself into a hypocrite!"

His officers were silent. Ichigo frowned, confused and alarmed by his master(_ugh)'s _sudden mood-shift.

Caro narrowed his eyes. "Loyalty... is everything. That is what I teach, and that is what I believe. Loyalty to one's kind, to one's kin." He straightened, began pacing. "And yet here I am, making you Shinigami serve me in a convoluted plan to 'take over' Seireitei. It's inconsistent. And, here's the important part, it does _not_ ultimately serve my purpose to turn all worlds into a free and glorious haven for Hollows."

He turned to look at them again. The fire in his eyes had hardened into a dangerous glint of steel.

"I just finished a fight with Kuchiki Renji, and I have found something I'd lost. _My_ Hollow." He locked eyes with Ichigo, and Ichigo felt himself tense. "You're the only one who might know what that feels like, Kurosaki-san. But for the rest of you... imagine you go undercover as a Rukongai citizen. You immerse yourself fully, going so far as to leave behind your Zanpakuto and refuse to touch Kido. Then, years and years later, you find your Zanpakuto under a tree, and remember, almost surprisingly, that you're still a Shinigami."

"What's the point of all this?" Hitsugaya demanded. "What do you want us to do?"

Caro chuckled. "I want you to shut up and listen to me talk." He gave Hitsugaya a dry, condescending smirk. "Why, is there something else you need to do, Hitsugaya Taichou?"

Hitsugaya just glared, though he seemed discomforted by the effort. Caro turned away.

"No... you might be right, though. You Shinigami don't need to know any of this. I mistook this, for a moment, for a meeting of equals, but that's not what this is anymore. Allow me to be blunt. As of this moment, all Shinigami, within the Dioses Muerte ranks and without, are expendable."

A sharp breath ran through the room. Caro turned that dark, smug smirk on them all. "I hereby order an extermination of all Shinigami. Every. One. You. Find."

The breath froze. Every Shinigami present tensed, an internal battle of loyalties forced upon them abruptly. The Arrancar, though outnumbered within the room, began to slowly mirror Caro's smirk.

"As of right now," Caro continued, "this siege is over. Seireitei will burn today, and tomorrow Hollows will begin building their own world over the ashes."

.

It was already late when the doorbell rang, but Erina put down the dish she was washing and hurried over to unlock the door. It opened to reveal Ishida Uryu, carrying a briefcase and looking very grim.

"Ishida-sensei! You made good time," Erina said by way of greeting, holding out a hand to take his coat. "I'm glad you're here, though. We... aren't really sure what to do."

"I'm a little surprised I wasn't told earlier," the elder Ishida replied, glasses glinting, "seeing as it is my son causing all this trouble. He's in the basement?"

"Yes, sir."

"Evacuate the shop, please. I called Kai, he'll be expecting you."

Erina hesitated. "You don't want anyone to back you up?"

"No, thank you. I fear you'd only get in the way. Besides, this is a Quincy matter." He looked at her sternly. "Go on, get everyone out. I should be done by morning."

...

Uryu jumped down into the basement, his cape fluttering behind him as he fell. Far below he could see the dark barriers behind which his wayward son was locked, though even through the layers of kido he could feel traces of Hollow reiatsu escaping.

Black, black reiatsu. A Quincy Hollow... Uryu hadn't even been sure such a thing was possible, yet here it was.

_Tch._

He landed before the barriers, and immediately knelt to lay his briefcase down. He deftly flicked the clasps open, eyes darting as he took in their surroundings.

"How," he mused aloud, "does one interfere in a battle inside someone else's mind? Especially one they've already lost?"

Inside lay a row of Seele Schneider, neatly packed in cloth. Uryu selected one and twirled it between his fingers.

"I saw that happen once before," he said, projecting his voice toward the Bakudos, and the mindless rage trapped within. He activated the Seele Schneider and snapped out his hand, summoning his bow. "Only that time Kurosaki was actually dead, too. His Hollow was in complete, undisputed control."

The bladed arrow sliced through Kitsune and Erina's careful Bakudos, shattering the spells. The pieces came raining down, disintegrating into the air as they fell.

"He was a monster," Uryu added, recalling the incident and feeling (even now) a slight twinge where Kurosaki had stabbed him. There was still a scar. "For a few minutes, every last trace of his humanity vanished."

Amid the cloud of dust and sand and failing Bakudo, Dikayumi finally appeared, though at first only as a glow of teal eyes, and a vague shadow. A growl filled the air, low and inhuman, and Uryu sighed, reaching for his case again.

"Dikayumi!" he called out to his son, even as he armed himself. "Where is your pride? Losing to a mere Hollow... you're better then that!"

The Black Hollow simply screamed at him. His words meant nothing. _So... he really is all the way gone._

_A pity._

"I know of only one way to do this, Dikayumi... and if you've given up, it will end up killing you." The words were bitter in his throat. "So start fighting again. Run the gauntlet with me, and we may yet drag you back from beyond the edge."

The Black Hollow charged.

Ishida Uryu had seen a lot of different kinds of Hollow in his time. Every known form of Menos, standard Hollows by the thousands, Arrancar, a Hollow manifestation, a Hollowfied Shinigami, a Hollowfied Zanpakuto... and now, a Hollowfied Quincy. It seemed insulting that practically all of them had white masks... but Dikayumi's, alone, was pure black.

Unimportant, maybe, but it bothered him.

Father and son clashed, black claws meeting the blue blade of a Seele Schneider. Uryu frowned as Dikayumi's claws tightened, interrupting the proper flow of energy particles. The blade flickered, then failed completely. Uryu tossed the hilt aside as he flashed backwards, glancing at the landscape again to cement positioning in his mind.

It was all about positioning, after all. Shinigami just smashed at things until said things break, but Quincy fights were more strategic then that.

If Dikayumi was in his right mind, he would have been hard to position. His Quincy training had progressed well into Sprenger placement, and he'd recognize a set-up immediately. This Black Hollow, however, was focused entirely on the attack.

Uryu found himself actually disappointed as he carefully engaged the Hollow, flashing about in a flawless, well-practiced pattern of defending, attacking, and positioning. The Black Hollow was _powerful_, attacking with strong blows and quick movements, but...

Simply attacking powerfully was no longer a viable winning tactic.

"You are better then this," he grumbled again, quietly. "You should never resort to such easily interpreted attacks. My pride as a teacher is taking quite a beating..."

.

_Pride._

_**I don't have any. Not anymore.**_

_There was only darkness left behind, and shame. Even more then the darkness, he felt the crushing, suffocating pressure of endless shame. It held him down, whispering failure, betrayal, weakness, death..._

_**My pride... **_

_... was misplaced._

_Borrowed from his ancestors, and poorly. _Unworthy_, shame whispered darkly. _You are, were, and always will be unworthy. Your ancestors would never have fallen so easily.

.

Uryu grunted as the Black Hollow caught him in the side with a tail-blow. He flipped in midair, the breath knocked out of him, and landed heavily on a spire of broken rock. He spared a moment to cast an eye over his arrangements, even as he drew another pair of Seele Schneider hilts.

A Sprenger formation took a long time, in battle terms, to set up. What he was currently building was even more complicated. He kept, on his person, enough of his modified Seele Schneider hilts for a Sprenger every time he went into a fight. The additional hilts he had brought in his briefcase were not merely backups, he needed significantly more for the formation he was building.

The Black Hollow began charging a cero, and Uryu hastily closed the distance between them. Cero began narrow and fanned out; he'd be best suited to dodge the attack at close range. Of course, that also took him within striking distance of the Hollow's tail, which was proving itself as more then an unnecessary cosmetic addition.

The cero fizzled out of existence as the Hollow whirled to meet him, claws extended. Uryu crossed his duel Seele Schneider and caught the Hollow's attack from below, forcing the claws high. _Tail._ He pulled one blade from the initial block and slashed at the flicking tail, severing the tip as it speared towards him.

Then he beat a hasty retreat, discomforted in such close-quarters fighting. He threw one Seele Schneider straight down into position and immediately summoned his bow again, firing off the other at the charging Hollow.

_Only a few more points to go._

.

_**I'm sorry, everyone. **_

.

"Dikayumi!"

Uryu stood in the center of his formation, bait for his own trap. If he were up against a slower opponent, he'd rather back it into the formation while keeping a safe distance himself, but after half an hour of maneuvering without success, it was time to improvise.

"I have a new trick to show you!"

Dikayumi had always loved new tricks, new techniques. Uryu wished he could properly see this one, though if he could, he'd undoubtedly try to avoid it. _Maybe, when this is all over, he'll be able to remember this moment at least..._

Probably not. But Uryu was exceptionally proud of his new formation, and it wasn't something he'd be able to demonstrate every day.

The Hollow passed the inner lines. Uryu jumped away into the air a heartbeat before the Hollow reached him, releasing the hidden trigger he had been holding down with one foot. The sand instantly charged, sparking blue, and as the Hollow's claws brushed the ground all that energy flowed straight up into him, like water being sucked into a straw. It wasn't much, a lightning-based trick to cause a few moments of paralysis, but it was enough to get Uryu to a hilt in the inner formation.

He alighted on the hilt for just a moment in his mid-air run, just enough to break the Ginto capsule on the end under his foot and send the condensed spiritual energy inside trickling down the hilt. Then he kept running. Distance. He needed to get out.

A flare of energy shot down the blade, spreading like wildfire first to the five-pointed formation of Sprenger, then continuing from those five points to the secondary nine points beyond that.

_Nine. The missing Quincy number._

The explosion swept in from the lines of the outer formation, the reaction occurring so quickly that Uryu hadn't time to clear the nonagon before the wave of energy hit. The energy built as it closed in, however, and upon hitting the inner formation the explosion condensed dramatically before shooting upwards, _looking_ practically identical to a Sprenger.

But while it appeared the same, the power behind it was not. Uryu, having been flung to the ground by the initial wave of energy, propped himself up, wincing against the light.

"It does work," he muttered, relieved. He had already come up with the name, of course, but if the formation hadn't activated properly...

"You'll like this one, Dikayumi. Neuntenstern, Ninth Star. It worked like a charm..."

_The only thing that seemed to work last time... was **completely** destroying the mask. _


	64. Interlude 29

{Edit: Resubmitting due to my technical mistake last week. Sorry for any confusion!}

* * *

Interlude

_Caro, the Vasto Lorde, forgot what it was to hunger for power._

_Caro, the Arrancar, forgot what it was to be a Hollow._

_Caro, the leader of Dioses Muerte, forgot what it was to fear._

_Fighting Kuchiki Renji, his powers momentarily useless... Caro remembered all of it. He was engaged suddenly, not in a game of pawns and players, but a raw fight where power clashed against power and buildings were leveled from the pressure and destruction._

_Suddenly, years of telling other people to fight his battles seemed a tremendous mistake._

_To fight a captain without his Eyes as an end-all winning move unnerved Caro. The focus of every attack suddenly became to disable that visor, the shield against him._

_When he succeeded, of course the battle ended, but things had changed. Unexpectedly, danger had appeared in the middle of his nice, controlled, all-according-to-plan game._

_And Caro found himself... unprepared._


	65. Chapter Thirty-Four

Chapter Thirty-Four

Caro's lair _seemed_ deserted, and yet, at the same time, it didn't.

"Should we risk splitting up?" asked Charles. They were standing at a fork in the corridor, and though they couldn't sense anything specifically down either hall, there was still that vague sense of there being _someone_ for them to find.

Edward hardly seemed to think about the "risk", he immediately pointed at the right-hand corridor. "I claim this one. Who's coming with me?"

"Me," replied Yylfordt and Steve at the same time. They looked at one another with slight irritation.

"Yyfordt, go with Charles," Steve ordered, and Yylfordt sighed.

"Fine, fine." He glanced at Charles, a little sheepishly. "Not that there's anything wrong with you..."

"You know what, on second thought I'd actually like to go on a solo hunt right now," Edward said brightly. "So how about you three take that side and I'll take this one! It's been a while since I properly lone-wolfed something."

Without even waiting for an agreement or response of any kind, Edward turned and trotted down his chosen corridor, humming to himself. He could hear the others start to argue, either with him or each other, but didn't pay much attention.

Here they were in Caro's main base, buried just beneath the sand of the grey wastes. There were more interesting things to be doing then standing around talking about _safety_ and _even teams_.

The complex seemed to be rather large, and Edward passed dozens of alternate halls, doorways, and so forth. He poked his head in at every door, just to see what there was to see, but most were boring. Bedrooms, barracks, common rooms, little training rooms for one or two people to do private sparring... things like that. All empty, not a soul to be seen.

He kept going, though, deeper and deeper in. He _knew_ he sensed someone (who or what he didn't know) further ahead.

That person ended up to be some black-robed fellow in what seemed to be an infirmary, apparently unarmed, reading a book in bed.

Edward stood in the door, disappointed and a little embarrassed. The injured Shinigami (for at this proximity the difference in reiatsu was obvious) shifted his book and gave Edward a bewildered stare.

"Who are you?" he asked warily. Edward shrugged.

"Er... hard to explain. Who are you?"

The man frowned, though he looked more confused then annoyed. "Akama Kagemaru? Second General, Shinigami Resources?"

"Oh, right!" Edward had no idea what that meant, but if this guy really was a General he didn't look like a very scary one. "Yes... sorry, I was looking for the _Third_ General." He looked around the infirmary quickly, determined there was no one, and nothing, else of interest there. "Would you happen to know where he is, sir?" Edward slipped that _sir_ on the end just for good measure.

General Akama's frown intensified slightly. "What's your section number?" he asked suspiciously. Edward had no idea what he meant but reacted instinctively, not hesitating. Hesitation would be a dead giveaway.

"Six."

The General hmmed. "Well, good then. My apologies, I'm a little paranoid when I'm alone." He picked up his book again as if to hide the deepening scowl spreading across his face. "So far as I know that _evil slime_ is still in Seireitei with the rest of the army."

_Does he really not suspect me?_ Edward wondered, rather astonished. He hesitated, then ventured, "I hate to ask this, sir, but... have you heard anything about some _secret weapon?_ I was sent back to find someone to report to that we needed it, but I was never told anything about any secret weapon, so..."

General Akama snapped his book shut abruptly, eyes glinting with anger.

"Ohhhhh, this is not going to turn out to be a good day, is it? Secret weapon, my foot... Kurotsuchi has just been dying for an excuse to let his monstrosity loose on Seireitei." He swung his legs off the bed, bending to pick up a Zanpakuto (inside what looked like an oddly metallic sheath) that had been leaning unnoticed against the wall. "Bother it all... I'm assuming Caro approved the order?"

Edward nodded (it seemed the natural response) and the Second General sighed.

"Fine. Fine. Let's go get it, then..."

There was a folded red cloak on the bedside table, and after rising the general swept the cloak around his shoulders. He gestured for Edward to follow as he headed out the door, and Edward complied. _I just hope I can take out this general guy once we get to whatever secret weapon we're talking about..._

.

Steve glanced around the lab, simultaneously impressed and sickened. Impressed, because his old nemesis had built a large, well-equipped laboratory, with connected cells, observations rooms, and an arena for battle testing. Sickened, because he knew that an ally had been experimented on here, and every part of him that wasn't Szayelaporro found that hard to swallow.

He even found the records, stored away with years worth of prerequisite experiment logs. As Charles and Yylfordt explored the surrounding halls, Steve sifted through the files.

"Forced Hollowfication," he muttered, a slight shiver running up his spine. "Attempted Arrancar mask-removal... multi-Hollow mask splicing?... what did he think _that_ would accomplish?"

The entire cabinet of experiments, including (but not limited to) the "Primary" experiments that had occurred within the last week, were consistently horrific. What was worse was that little part of him that was laughing with glee at the results, ignoring the fact that the most recent test subject had been a friend.

He shifted a stapled sheaf of paper to one side, picking up another file beneath. _Secondary... _

Kurotsuchi had been creating two monsters side by side, subjecting both to the same experiments, had them fight comparable opponents. The only difference, according to a footnote on the Secondary file, was that they had used an already established "volunteer" Arrancar as the original subject for Secondary, while for Primary the subject was a "Shinigami Daiko after undergoing forced Hollowfication."

The file seemed to indicate that both versions had gone equally mad, in the end.

_Once Ryohime got Vance out of the way, though, we were able to take out Primary pretty easily. Even if this Secondary is still around, he won't pose _too_ much of a problem._

"Steve," called Yylfordt from the doorway. "Edward's coming this way, and it feels he has someone else with him."

Steve frowned, putting the papers back where he had found them. "Not Charles?" Yylfordt shook his head.

"I don't recognize him at all."

Steve put a wary hand on his Zanpakuto. "Then it could be an enemy..."

.

General Akama Kagemaru glanced at the casually-dressed boy walking beside him, and he felt his frown deepen slightly.

_Curse this war._

He hated that Caro and Tsukishima could so easily turn people, completely against their will. This young man looked like one of the Fourteenth Division members, the ones Tsukishima had been sent to turn. They were too young to be fighting a war anyway, and now... the fact that they were already running errands for the opposite side made him angry. Even if it _was_ his side.

People like the First General and Caro made fighting for something meaningless.

Then he sensed the other individuals in the hold, and he stopped short. "Did you bring allies?" he asked, and saw the slightest flicker of alarm in the boy's eyes. _Ahhhhh... could the First General have failed with them after all?_

"Just a few," came the response, though it sounded guarded. Kagemaru sighed, turning on the boy fully.

"You've been acting strange this whole time," he said, thought he hated doing it. Better for everyone (except Caro) if they could just pretend to think they were allies and part ways. "You should have received a pass phrase from Caro or one of the other Generals by now, and I really should have asked for that first."

_Yep, he's no emotional slave,_ Kagemaru realized as the young man tensed, reaching for his Zanpakuto. _Good._

"That's too bad," he found himself saying, anyway, drawing his own Zanpakuto. "Though I suppose this does mean I don't have to have anything to do with that monster of Kurotsuchi's, after all..."

"Listen," said the young man, obviously tensed to spring but holding back. "You don't seem like that bad a guy, and if my guess is right, you don't actually have any legitimate reason to follow Caro anyway. Just some mind-control trick. So how about I stop trying to manipulate you with transparent lies, you go back to reading your interesting-looking book, and we both pretend we never saw one another?"

_I like that idea._

Kagemaru leveled his Zanpakuto at the young man. "That's a naive idea. I can't leave invaders running freely around the Hold, however young they might be. Now, if you were going to just leave, go back to the World of the Living where you belong, that's another matter. Take your friends and go, and we don't need to come to blows."

"Sorry, Second General-san, but that's not going to-"

"Edward!"

Kagemaru whirled, tensing. He hadn't sensed anyone behind him, but all of a sudden there someone was. Another dark-haired young man, with broken, battered chains hooked in coils at his belt.

The new intruder gave Kagemaru a searching look, but when he spoke it was to his companion.

"I thought I sensed danger. Are you getting into unnecessary trouble again?"

"Excuse me, _who_ are you?" interrupted Kagemaru, a little irritated at being ignored. "And why are you and your friends getting into trouble in my home?"

"Hirama Charles, nice to meet you," the newcomer said, bowing politely. "This is Nakamaru Edward, we're members of the Fourteenth Division. We're here trying to find an advantage over Caro." He peered at Kagemaru again, as if searching for something. "And you are...?"

"Second General Akama Kagemaru." The basic introductions out of the way, Kagemaru prepared to engage the two invaders... but hesitated when Hirama Charles snapped his fingers in a flash of sudden inspiration.

"Akama! Hah, I knew I knew you from somewhere. Akama Kagemaru, formerly of the Twelfth Division, right?"

Caught off guard by the apparent sincerity of this strange young man, Kagemaru lowered his sword slightly. "Wait... how do you know that?"

"You were the guy Aizen rescued from Kurotsuchi Mayuri, the one he entrusted with his escape plan – well, one of them - if everything went south during the war." Hirama shot him a piercing look. "The one that vanished after Aizen's defeat."

...

Charles' words had the intended effect. Akama froze, eyes wide. Then, slowly, angrily, he repeated his former question.

"How do you know that?"

"I don't blame you for not recognizing me; I hardly recognized you, after all, until you introduced yourself, and I've change far more dramatically," Charles said, trying hard to keep his voice casual and friendly. "But I was in Aizen's army at the same time as you. Eighth Espada at the time, Nnoitra Gilga?" He forced a chuckle. "Those days seem a life-time away, now. After Aizen was done switching out the Espada and sent a lot of the oldies to the outskirts, like you, he promoted me to Fifth Espada. We had a lot of empty spots that needed filling with your guys moving to the bunker. What happened to everyone, by the way? Are they in Caro's army now, too?"

Akama looked spooked. "Nnoitra?" he asked finally, apparently the only thing he could manage so far, and Charles glanced down at himself.

"Yeah... I do look _a lot_ different, I suppose. Kinda died and came back more... human." Behind the General, Edward was frowning and gesturing, probably wondering why on earth they were bantering. Charles wished he would just go do something useful with himself. His memories of this particular Shinigami, ancient though they were, told him they could pretty easily avoid a conflict, and after the battles they had been through lately he didn't want to start another.

Especially with Akama. The man's personality was a little pathetic, in Nnoitra's opinion, but the fact was that Aizen _had_ put him in charge of a half dozen of the older 'failed' Arrancar, and left them with the duty of raiding Seireitei to free him if the worst came to the worst. There had to be something dangerous, deadly even, under the weakling demeanor. Aizen had never told anyone what this particular secret weapon was actually capable of.

Nnoitra would have loved to find out, but Charles was a little more careful then his spiritual predecessor.

_He doesn't look convinced, though..._

"You haven't actually changed that much, now that I come to think of it," he continued, still with a friendly, chit-chatty tone. "Your scars have faded, though," and he drew three fingers over his eye to indicate what he was talking about. "Got rid of your braids, too, I see. A human friend of mine liked braids... I always thought that was a nice touch." A total lie, but Charles was willing to throw a few of those out there to ease the situation.

The casual tone of the conversations seemed to be working, though – Akama seemed to be less tense then he had been a minute ago. One hand started rising, apparently unbidden, to the shoulder he has once worn a braid over before he realized what he was doing.

"It was... impractical," he said, rather hastily. "But... if you're Nnoitra somehow... are the other Espada still around, too? Why do you look like that... some kind of gigai?"

Charles frowned. "Caro didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

_Did he seriously not tell his own Generals what the Fourteenth Division is made of?_ "No gigai, I'm a genuine human now. In all honesty, I'm not properly Nnoitra either, I just have those memories because I'm his reincarnation. Did you ever meet Grimmjow? That's him behind you, or what's left of him."

Akama gave Edward a short glance, but quickly turned back to Charles. He was glaring now.

"I don't know what you're trying to pull, probably a stalling tactic, but it will ultimately do you no good. Even if your two friends in the lab figure out how to get Secondary out of his cage, even if he does begin wreaking havoc, Caro is done with this Hold anyway. Seireitei is his base of operations now. And if you think I'll go easy on you just because you used to-"

"Serve Aizen?" Charles interrupted, pointedly. "Because we used to be allies, if only distant ones?"

"I've killed allies before," replied Akama grimly.

"Is that what happened to the others, then? Caro turned you first, and ordered you to kill them?"

"No!" The pressure in the corridor began to rise. "I never harmed any of them. They died because Caro-" He stopped abruptly, drawing in a sharp breath.

"So, they did die," Charles murmured. _Good. Former Espada, even ones as imperfect as the original Privaron, would be powerful tools._ "How can you still follow Caro?" he asked louder, "When he's responsible for the death of your friends?"

"Stop it," hissed Akama through gritted teeth. "Stop reminding me!"

He was clearly in pain now, his breath coming unsteadily. Charles remembered General Tsukishima's death, that final warning and the abrupt way he died in the middle of it. Suspicions, already swirling vaguely around in his mind, began to cement themselves.

"Why is it," he began again, thinking his question through as he spoke, "that every time one of his generals starts to actually _think_ about what they're doing... they seem to start having trouble breathing?"

The corridor seemed strangely quiet after that. For a moment, Charles and Akama stared at one another, Akama breathing heavily and Charles holding his breath. He hadn't meant the conversation to turn so quickly, but it had. _Nnoitra, are you tricking me into saying things just to antagonize him?_

"Just... go," Akama finally said, his eyes burning. "I said it before; if you just leave I'll let you go unharmed. If not..." He raised his Zanpakuto again, and Charles could almost see blue flames in the reflection. "... I will claim my first kills in this war, right here."

_Could we take him?_ Charles asked himself, locking eyes with Edward for a moment. _Yeah... even though we're tired I think we could. There are four of us, one of him, and we already beat the First General. This guy is the Second._

_But is there any _reason_ to fight him? Risk further casualties? He's offering to let us walk out of here..._

"Then we'll go," he said, raising his hands slightly in a pacifying gesture. "I didn't mean to start a fight." Even as he was talking, Yylfordt came sidling out from the direction of the lab, undoubtedly feeling the rise in reiatsu. "We're pulling out," Charles called to him before he could attack. "Get Steve, and we'll head back to the World of the Living."

"But-" started Yylfordt, but Edward interrupted grouchily.

"Just do it, already. I'm starting to think Herald was right, and this was a silly idea."

It was awkward, reorganizing under an enemy's glare, but he made no move to attack. Steve seemed surprisingly willing to abort the mission, silently following along with only the slightest glance at the Second General.

Until, that is, they were inside Yylfordt's Garganta, heading back towards the World of the Living.

"I found the self-destruct," he said triumphantly. "Found the kill-switch for the 'Secondary" cell (apparently not even its maker trusted it), and Kurotsuchi had a self-destruct set up under the whole lab. Five minutes, and that base is going to be no further use to anyone."

Edward let out a breath. "Well, thank goodness something good came of that." He glanced sideways at Charles. "Did you really know that guy? You weren't bluffing, right?"

Charles shook his head. "No, I was serious. He was one of Aizen's backup plans, had an incomplete Hogyoku under his care and everything. Caro must have found the bunker before the last battle, or Akama probably would have tried rescuing Aizen from Seireitei years ago."

"Even now, we're still finding Aizen's plans popping up," Yylfordt muttered. "That man... was something else."

Edward shivered. "Makes you wonder if he... no, never mind."

_I wish you hadn't said that, _Charles thought, a cold feeling creeping into his skin. He rubbed his arms, fixing his eyes on the World of the Living ahead. _Aizen _is_ dead. Herald saw it himself..._


	66. Interlude 30

Interlude

_What is pride?_

_Is it, as some believe, a negative thing, defined as an individual's personal sense of importance? Justified? Unjustified? Can it be a good thing, a motivator or a well-earned reward for doing a difficult job well? Is it something else entirely, or a combination? Can pride even be defined, definitively?_

_Pride of the self... _

_Pride for things outside the self..._

_Pride in the actions of others._

_I found my pride again, in the actions of my father. The Black inside of me suffocated everything I could feel proud of, in and of myself, but outside my self there was still one person... one brilliant person who I could be _proud_ to be related to._

_Black attacked me via pride. He chose the battlefield._

_He made a mistake. _


	67. Interlude 31

Interlude

Ryohime and Vance crouched on a building, several careful yards away from one another, watching as Seireitei began tearing itself apart.

Shinigami began chasing phantoms and fighting one another, perceiving only an enemy, in the wake of Aizen flitting here and there. No illusion reached the two, misplaced by time as they were, and they saw clearly Aizen's madness as he wrecked havoc, laughing and talking to himself.

And Shiro had already begun his fight with Ichigo. Somewhere out there, a four-year-old Ryohime was running through Seireitei with Muramasa strapped to her back, thinking to come to her daddy's rescue.

"I always wondered," Ryohime muttered, watching the chaos. "Why did I escape the time-stop that day?"

Vance didn't reply for a long moment. He had been quiet lately, especially since his father had left for the World of the Living for the last time. "Our crossed timelines seem to affect one another, to some extent," he said finally. "Your then-Zanpakuto found you now, and yet doesn't seem to realize that fact. Perhaps your now affects your then somehow, as well? In ways we can't understand?"

"It wouldn't seem to make much sense, though."

"What about this situation of ours makes sense?"

They were still pondering when the time-stop Kido went into effect. Ryohime and Vance saw the wave of sudden stillness rush over Seireitei, stopping everyone in their tracks.

Vance raised a hand in front of his face, ticked off five seconds on his fingers. They exchanged a dismayed glance when nothing changed.

"We're not included."

For the next decade... they wouldn't even have the activities of Seireitei to keep them company. Now, truly, they were alone.


	68. Chapter Thirty-Five

Chapter Thirty-Five

Dikayumi felt like a punching bag someone had given to Grimmjow, but he still found himself smiling in relief as he opened his eyes. He stared up at the ceiling, aching all over, until someone stirred nearby.

"Ah, you're awake."

He glanced over and found his father sitting nearby, bandaged arms showing under his sleeves but still looking quite smug. Dikayumi sighed, glad to see him alright.

"I'm sorry," he said immediately, but his father waved the apology away.

"It's not your fault, and no one died. In the end, that Black Hollow did far less damage then he might have; less, even, then I would have expected."

Dikayumi rolled over on his side, wincing at the pain. "I shouldn't have let him take over, though. And what worries me is... I can still feel him in there, sulking."

"But we know he's there," his father said, kindly. "We were ignoring him all this time, and that's why he was able to get the jump on you. That won't happen next time. Besides, I happen to have a good friend who has been dealing with a Hollow in his brain for decades. I'll make him come by and give up some of his tips."

"I had been hoping..." Dikayumi started, then stopped himself.

"That you wouldn't have to live with that side of things?"

"Well, yeah. But everyone else still has to deal with their Hollow lives whispering in their minds, so it's probably not wise to expect any different." His eyes narrowed in determination. "But that's the last time I let a Hollow rule me. I'll make certain of that."

Ishida Uryu chuckled proudly. "That's my Quincy." Then, he rose. "Your friends seem to be coming back; let's go see what they have to report."

.

The Fourteenth Division re-organized in Kitsune's tearoom. The Arrancar mod-soul bustled about, pouring tea and coffee and passing out cups to everyone as they debriefed.

"We were in the World of the Living before the self-destruct was scheduled to go off," Steve said, in the middle of his explanation of their exploits in Hueco Mundo, "but we can go back after things have had a chance to settle to check for sure. Yylfordt knows where the lair is, so we should be able to get quite close."

"Was it worth it, though?" asked Herald skeptically. "You said there were only two people there, or... one person and an experimental Hollow."

"It was one of Caro's Generals," Edward commented. "Even if he did seem like kind of a wimp, it should be safe to assume there were hidden dangers. The second experiment, though, I'm glad to know that it's out of the way. You guys took out the first one pretty easily when it was alone and Steve was around to keep it still, but with a group it would have posed a much bigger danger."

Steve nodded, then continued. "With his base of operations out of the way, we should be able to head for Seireitei without having to worry about the World of the Living being assaulted from Hueco Mundo while no one's looking. If we go via Garganta, we shouldn't have any incidents between here and there." He glanced at the Ishidas. "I can't order either of you to come, but I _would_ ask you to. We need to stop this assault as soon as possible, before Seireitei is flung into even greater chaos then the Aizen Incident caused."

Dikayumi glanced at his father, and Uryu frowned behind his glasses.

"Let's hear your plan," he declared. "Then we'll see."

Steve hesitated. "Our primary concern should be finding Caro, and as a group we should be able to take him relatively easy. Cut off the head of the snake, and the body will begin to fail. If I can get a hold of him with my puppet-strings, I can keep his eyes directed away from any of us, and with as many of us as there are, we can have several people defending against outside interference while someone takes out Caro for good."

"And if Caro gets one of us before then?"

"I have two hands. But that is why I'd prefer more numbers, if possible. If he catches us by surprise and manages to turn someone before I catch him, it would be better to still have enough people to attack _and_ defend."

"And if we're stopped before we reach him?"

Steve frowned, as if the answer was obvious. "We fight our way free?"

Uryu sighed, adjusting his glasses in a rather ominous manner. "We have only outdated intelligence at this point, the entirety of Soul Society could be under his thumb by now. In that event, we would never get close to him. The first step to even formulating a plan should be to scout out the situation in Soul Society. Fewer people would be less likely to be noticed. You're approaching this whole thing from the wrong direction."

"You're not wrong in general, but we're not sneaky people," Steve replied. "And if we sent only a single scout, or even two, there will be the chance they were captured in Seireitei, dominated by Caro, and any information they bring back is actually a trap."

"That does not justify walking blindly into a war zone."

"Do you have a better idea?" Steve asked intensely. "Because at this point, we're sitting on our hands while Seireitei needs us."

"Seireitei," Uryu retorted, looking grimly over his glasses at Steve, "can take care of itself. Our job is to protect the World of the Living. If Caro successfully takes down all the captains that should be defending Seireitei, do you really expect to beat him yourself?"

Edward rose suddenly, slamming both hands down on the table. "Arguing about it won't help anything! Here's what _I_ propose. Those of us who are willing head to the Rukongai, in a group, to do some long-distance scouting. Those who are not will stay here and keep any eye on Karakura. Once we have a better idea of what's going on in Seireitei, we can adjust our plans accordingly, and not waste time pointlessly worrying about it until then."

There was a tense silence, then Erina, to the surprise of the guys, stood up. "No. We have been making a mess of everything since this began, and all because we keep reacting to things and going off on our own. We need to go help Seireitei, that much is obvious, and I think we _all_ need to go. Divide and conquer, the saying goes, and I feel like that's exactly what Caro wants. The Fourteenth Division (all of Seireitei, for that matter) split up, alone, confused, and vulnerable. So we have to stick together and not let any of us go off on our own, for any reason, no matter how sensible it seems at the time."

No one answered her for a long moment. Herald and Steve glanced at one another, contemplative, and Edward stared at the ceiling with narrow eyes.

"You might be right," said Uryu finally. "You should go together and not delay, but I am staying. If Seireitei does fall, the World of the Living will need champions to defend against the Hollows, and my duty is here."

"Then I-" began Dikayumi slowly, but his father shook his head and interrupted before he could finish.

"The Fourteenth is understaffed already, Yumi, and we owe them for keeping the Black Hollow from hurting any humans until I got here. I really think I have to lend you to the Shinigami for this mission, at least." He didn't bother stating the main reason for his interruption, but a small part of the weight on Dikayumi's shoulders did seem to lift at the backhanded permission. No Quincy liked to sit on a defeat.

"What about me?" asked Kitsune, his usual smile gone. "Just how much pressure are we going to be facing, here?"

"We will probably need every kido user we can get," declared Steve. Now that Erina had made her suggestion and the most adult person present had _sort of _agreed with her, no one else seemed keen on continuing the argument. "If we get into trouble with a captain-level opponent, retreat to a safe distance where the pressure won't crush you and save your energy for healing or defensive kidos. We're going to need it at some point."

"We have to avoid a conflict like that, if at all possible," insisted Herald stubbornly. "We are going into a battleground severely outnumbered and against an enemy who can brainwash us with a glance, so this _has_ to be a stealth mission. We can't afford to draw attention to ourselves until we actually have Caro in our sights."

Edward snorted aloud in derision at the notion, but didn't say anything. They all knew there was very little chance of a group like them going _anywhere_ stealthily.

"Nevertheless, let's _try_ to keep a low profile," Herald sighed, and everyone nodded, even Edward. "No reason to wait, then... let's get this terrible idea over with."

Steve rose. "For once, we agree. The longer we wait, the worse for everyone."

…

"I'm not going to abandon you, but we need him."

Urai's Zanpakuto looked down at him from her favourite branch - in the lone tree, in his inner world - her expression one of unconvinced annoyance.

"That's what you say now," she hissed. "But what happens to me when you decide to embrace the other power? What _can_ happen to me? You think _he_ will just stand down when you're done, back away to his nasty dark corner and let me be your partner again, uncontested?"

"You would know better then I," Urai agreed, "seeing as I'm never actually _cognizant_ when he visits, but... Seireitei is in dire straits. We both know that I can do more then what you are willing to share. My own soul is keeping secrets from me, but this isn't the time for secrets anymore. We need to be willing to make sacrifices to save Seireitei, if it comes to that."

"It already did!" his Zanpakuto snarled, then looked away darkly. "You know that medicine is tampering with your memory, but you kept taking it anyway. Why?"

"Because I trust the captains. Even if there are side-effects, the ultimate goal is to cure me of this Rukongai plague."

"And my ultimate goal is to create a world where we both exist, and can live happily," she replied stubbornly. "If we weaken, if we make compromises and let darkness take over, that will never happen."

"You are my Zanpakuto!" Urai protested. "You're a part of me, and I wouldn't be complete without you."

"He's a part of you, too. Only he's stronger then I am! And crueler. Merciless." She snatched a coconut and flung it Urai's head, forcing him to jump aside. "If you let him into your conscious mind, then everything we've been doing could... vanish. In a heartbeat."

"I don't understand that. _Why?_ You tell me I can't handle it, that 'he' will ruin everything, but why? How? What are you so scared of?"

"The truth!" She turned and scrambled further up into her tree, shouting back angrily, "It's terrifying for me, and it will destroy you! You think you have some secret weapon, and maybe you do. But go _there_... resort to _that_... and you'll lose yourself. It's not worth it! Seireitei has other defenders, other champions. You crawled out of the abyss in Rukongai... I don't want to see you jump back in."

Urai sighed. "I don't see that we have a choice. Caro has turned the Divisions against one another, every moment I hesitate more people could be dying. Caro doesn't know anything about me, but I know where he is," _more or less,_ he added silently, "and he won't be expecting an attack from an unseated officer fighting blind."

"So some other unseated officer who practiced fighting in the dark can take him out," she called from the thick foliage above. "Doesn't have to be you."

"You're a very frustrating woman."

"I know. It's for your own good, kid. You're ignorant, arrogant, and think you know best, but you don't. Just give it up and go hit some rocks. Things will work out, we're lucky like that."

_Lucky?_

"I can't give up," Urai said quietly, looking out over the flat plain of his inner world. "Not when I might be able to do something to save Seireitei."

He took a deep breath. "With or without your blessing... I have to try."


	69. Interlude 32

Interlude

_Urai had always assumed a Shinigami only had one inner world. The place in their souls where their Zanpakuto lived, the inside of their minds. But this felt like somewhere even deeper inside - primal in a way - and not suitable for humans._

_He couldn't see anything, but he could _sense _the environment in the emptiness around him. Shattered glass underfoot, a dead moon that hung lightlessly above, a wind he couldn't feel whistling through... ruins, perhaps?_

_It was like an inner world gone dark. _

_He knew, instantly, that he had been here before, when it was alive. Before the plains, and his Zanpakuto's coconut tree. Or maybe they really were the same place, simply different layers. _

_Or different times. _

_"I have been here," he whispered, reaching out into the absolute darkness. The visions that had haunted him since his Rukongai days seemed to appear before him in the darkness, as convoluted and nonsensical as always._

_"I confronted someone here, once before."_

**When it was alive.**

_"So... there is someone down here. She thinks you're going to end up killing us both."_

**I did last time.**

_"What?" _She said something along those lines, too. That there had already been sacrifices. _"Please explain. I've been kept in the dark about everything."_

**For your own good. And yet... we all already died once before, and we're still here... **

_"Are you a manifestation of... a former life? You say 'died'... do you mean that literally, or as a figure of speech?"_

**Literally. And you're close enough to the truth about me. Consider me your last Zanpakuto. You became a Shinigami too quickly, Rukongai hadn't finished erasing everything from our past life. That's why this world is still here, if only in decaying ruins. And that's why I still exist, though your new Zanpakuto saps my strength every day. I am why Seireitei has to try and destroy your memory as quickly as possible. **

_"Those are very negative implications." He knew what the voice was referring to. "Are you suggesting... that this plague is just part of a cover up, or even an utter fabrication?"_

_**They fear you. For good reason.**_

_"Why would they fear me?"_

_Silence._

At least he seems more talkative then she does...

_"I need your power. She seems to think you are still more powerful then she is, and Seireitei is under attack from a very dangerous-"_

**I tried that once before, and you fell into despair so deep you let yourself die. Not every soul can reconcile a life such as ours. **

_"A lot of Shinigami have been Hollows," Urai said, barely aware of the assumptions he was making. "Over a dozen lifetimes, someone can hardly avoid it at some time or another. The Academy had entire classes on handling Rukongai citizens who have spent time as Hollows." He felt around in the dark. "I don't know who I was before that I could ended up dying from despair, but it doesn't matter. If he let himself die, he was weak. I know how the cycle works, I know why Hollows are driven to do what they do... I can disconnect myself. I won't fall into despair again."_

**You can't know that.**

_"Yes, I can. This is war, a life-and-death situation, and when it matters I'm excellent at keeping my emotions where they belong."_

**The past is not kind.**

_"But it_ is_ the past. Trust me, I can keep it there."_

_There was a long silence. Glass crunched under Urai's feet as he explored the darkness, though it didn't cut. _

**Very well. Let us try this, then, one more time.**


	70. Chapter Thirty-Six

Chapter Thirty-Six

Seireitei burned.

Caro had unleashed the beast of the Dioses Muerte, and now it ran rampant. The Arrancar members, all former Adjuchas or lower, were no longer held back and simply sought to destroy everything that got in their way. Shinigami members were faring far worse. Some, caught between loyalties, simply collapsed where they stood, struggling to stay alive under the weight of Caro's demands. Others, either powerful enough to instinctively bury their old loyalties, or simply not strong-willed enough to fall under the death-trap of trying to balance opposing loyalties, obeyed and turned on their former allies indiscriminately.

Caro had slid a proviso into his order. All Shinigami were now the enemies, but non-Dioses Muerte Shinigami were declared the most important to eliminate. No one had any doubt, however, that he meant to kill them all when the real fight was over.

Ichigo tried to ignore that part of the situation. He knew he was doing too good a job of denying reality, but he couldn't help it at this point. Self-preservation, never one of his highest priorities, nevertheless had taken over _without_ consulting him first.

And it wasn't Shiro this time. That was what made it very strange. Normally it was his Hollow who wrenched control away in a life-or-death situation and prioritized living over things like loyalty and protecting others, but he had gone silent.

This was a different kind of instinct, and Ichigo didn't like it. He just couldn't stop it.

"It's very frustrating!" he declared, and his opponent snorted as the two smashed into one another and accidentally crater'ed the ground below.

"No, really? _You're_ frustrated?"

Ichigo spared a moment to glance around again, taking in the chaos. He was glad, in a way, that he had been stopped by Ikkaku before finding anyone else. The Eleventh Division Captain was one of the relatively few that he didn't have to worry too much about. Practically every officer lower then Captain in Seireitei would make too easy of a target. Against Ikkaku, though...

... He could obey the orders he was compelled to obey, and yet do it against an opponent who couldn't possibly feel betrayed by the chance to fight.

.

Caro stood at his big office window, looking out over it all with satisfaction burning in his eyes.

He had missed this.

The thrill of just watching a place crumble.

"So you saw, in a recording of a man watching a recording, that my influence could be carried over without my personal presence," he said, addressing the Twelfth Division officer Kurosaki Ichigo had captured. Or rescued, as it seemed. "And you volunteered to duplicate that situation to try and narrow down exactly what was causing it?"

The fifth-seat snapped his fingers. "Exactly. And it was utterly fascinating. Even now it baffles me... I have no idea how it works. There must be something about the physical pattern your eyes take on in a released state that creates the urge to obey, but... such a thing would be next to impossible to nail down."

Caro smiled slightly to himself. "I would never allow such a thing, you understand. The real question is... what am I going to do with you, now? You're a Shinigami who helped spoil my secret weapon, and I'm not feeling particularly generous right now. Then again, you couldn't be expected to have worked for my good before, and by the time you saw the light it was already too late, so there may be grounds for forgiveness here."

"But think what we could achieve if we figured out how to replicate the visual effect!" Kaba exclaimed. He came closer - Caro heard his footsteps on the wood. "The secret is there, captured on camera, which means it _can_ be captured. Give me the chance to study it... please!"

"It will never happen," Caro said again without turning, though the idea was tempting. This fifth-seat wouldn't be around long enough to make any progress, in the end. Caro was considering leaving some of the weakest Shinigami around, to take care of the menial tasks of maintaining a balance of souls, but... all the officers of Seireitei were slated for execution, one way or another.

Kaba began talking again, getting into technical computer things Caro could hardly care less about. He wasn't entirely sure what a "pixel" was, but the number of them in his eyes didn't seem important. The destruction of Seireitei outside, which was going on even as the fifth-seat babbled... that was what was important.

No matter how long he spent in the company of Shinigami, every now and then Caro would feel again that little prickle, that sensation of someone aiming a knife at his back. As always, he ignored it, though it did remind him of his First General. _I wonder how his mission is coming..._

Something sharp and narrow plunged into his back, most unexpectedly. The babbling stopped abruptly, and the next words out of the fifth-seat's mouth were low and dark with ill-intent.

"Rewrite fate, Kessho."

_He was lying to me...?_

_**Me?!**_

Caro turned to look at Kaba, more emotionally hurt by the pin-prick attack then physically. The fifth-seat jumped back, holding the quill he had been wearing behind his ear... now dripping with Caro's blood.

"You stabbed me with your quill?" Caro asked, incredulously. "Why would you do that? I thought we had come to an understanding."

Kaba ignored him, pulling a small leather-bound book from his voluminous sleeves and flipped it open to scribble furiously. Caro shook his head and began charging a Cero, his mind made up. He didn't need a Shinigami in the Dioses Muerte who went around stabbing people with quills.

Then his Cero flickered and failed. Caro frowned, tried again. This time it didn't even begin forming.

"'Arrarrico Caro lost, for a long minute, the powers he had begun to take for granted,'" Kaba read dramatically, adjusting his glasses smugly. "'He froze in shock, suddenly helpless before his opponent.' And thus, Caro, I gain the upper hand."

"What did you do?" asked Caro as even his Resurrección faded. The practical Zanpakuto turned back into his staff, _against_ _his will._ It baffled him, but he found himself curiously unable to react.

"I," declared Kaba with an air of superiority, "just changed fate."

"You are supposed to be loyal to me," Caro protested, struggling against whatever force kept him standing there uselessly. He still had quite a lot of physical Arrancar strength, and a hefty staff. If he could just _move_, he could put this Shinigami down in a heartbeat...

"And I was, for a while," Kaba said, flicking through and studying his little book, as if looking for something. "But we're clever with brains at Twelfth Division. Urahara Taichou had to permanently sever a few of my neural pathways, block off parts of my brain, but the upside is that I am now incapable of making the connection between your eyes and loyalty." He shot Caro an offended look. "I will forever be more stupid then I should be, thanks to you. But with this, I one-up Tadataka, so we have that."

Caro hissed in irritation. "So all of this was just a trick, a lie, to get you close to me? For what, so you could assassinate me?"

"I don't _assassinate_ people. I'm Twelfth Division, not Second Division." Light glinted off his double glasses, and he smiled evilly. "I am not opposed to ruining your life in every way I can think of, though. Too bad I already used up 'has a heart attack and dies' and 'gets hit by a falling meteor', or you would be dead by now."

"What are you talking about?" At this point, Caro was stalling. It seemed that book was somehow controlling him, but if that were the case this strange inability to act would fade soon. Kaba had said "for a long minute". It could be nothing but an indicator of time, not meant to be taken literally, but it suggested a relatively short timeframe in any event.

He just had to keep distracting the traitor until it wore off, then...

"I can't write whatever I want and make it reality, as nice as that would be," Kaba said absently, still searching his pages. "It's like one of those games in the World of the Living where you complete a pre-written story with actions, descriptions, and random people or things, but instead of supplying all that I just supply the individual. This book contains fragments of story, little pieces of fate, just waiting for the right person to be written for." He put the blood-soaked quill to paper. "Aaah, this one sounds like a perfect fate for you. 'Victim's name - that's you, so - _Arrarrico Caro_ was betrayed by one close to him, and with that betrayal everything he had been working towards began crumbling around him...'. I've been saving this one for someone very special, but I can't think of anyone better suited for such an utterly miserable ending then you."

Caro didn't like the sound of that. There were members of Dioses Muerte that would make dangerous enemies, primarily the three of his four generals who he held only by the Eyes. Though... if Kurotsuchi Mayuri turned on him, that wouldn't be very pleasant either. And Kaba was still flipping through pages, still looking for more "fates" for him...

Something in the air changed, and an alien pressure faded. His fingers tightened, gripping his unreleased Zanpakuto. A slow smile crept across his pale lips.

It was time to get that quill away from its owner.


	71. Chapter Thirty-Seven

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Maka Urai opened his eyes.

Memories battled one another inside his skull, conflicting emotions and raging powers from what felt like a half dozen different lives. His head pounded and blackness crept across his vision, but he did not reach for his pocket – for the bottle that still held his so-called medicine.

A shortcut to erase previous lives. A clever solution to the sudden overpopulation problem, but one that would help him no more. Perhaps when it was all over he could escape the past, but there were things left unfinished he had to do.

He picked up his Zanpakuto and waited for his mind to clear. Slowly, his Zanpakuto's yelling faded into the background, along with the grim new occupant she had to share space with. When all was so still he could only sense the ambient energy of the ancient training pit, and nothing else, he rose.

There was no knowing who else had survived. He barely knew how long he had been wrestling within his own mind; it was quite possible the rest of Seireitei was already subjugated to the Arrancar.

_I made the right decision._ _I did not have the power to take them on alone before._

But something still niggled at the back of his mind. Something that came with the resurfacing of memories of the lives before his own. There was something awfully familiar about this place, and even more so the energy, though so far away, that he had felt here from the beginning.

He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts again. There was so much going on beneath the surface, any distraction might send him down rabbit-holes of thought it would be difficult to crawl out of. And, right now, he had to climb out of another kind of hole.

The sight, and sensations, that hit him at the surface of the cliff nearly drove him to his knees. Within the pit, spiritual pressure was hidden, but out here he could feel the battles like smoke filling the air. Heavy, oppressive, making it hard to even breath. Then he realized part of it _was_ smoke. Seireitei was literally burning.

Battles threw up dust and ruin wherever he looked. Flashes of steel and dozens of released Zanpakutos filled the air with a chaos of sound and reiatsu, making it hard to concentrate. Much of the fighting seemed focused around a few particular barracks; the uncompromised Shinigami who had gone to ground after Caro took over the First Division had either been found, or they had reemerged to fight back.

Urai steadied himself by letting his old power slip, just a little, from his recently-regained control. It was a heavy reiatsu, dark and dense, and blocked out the wayward pressure from below as easily as the walls of the training pit had.

_Now, to the First Division._

He leapt off the cliff, dropping like a stone to the streets below. The way Shinigami battles move, there was no clear path to the invaders' headquarters that would stay clear for long, so he simply landed on the top of the street walls and ran, veering off whenever he felt battling reiatsus nearby. He passed a pair of unseated Shinigami trying valiantly to fight off a red-cloaked man with a spiked mace and chain. Off to one side, dozens of Shinigami fought one another at the ruined walls of the Twelfth Division while a sneering Arrancar watched from a nearby building, swooping down on the injured whenever possible like some demented vulture. He passed bodies, and fallen swords, and blood.

But Urai dared not stop, for anything. All these other battles, he knew, would be futile unless Caro was defeated.

Still, the screams of the little Fourth Division healer, caught by a jackal-esque Adjuchas just around that corner, made his chest constrict. He almost hesitated, then his expression hardened and he kept running. His feet barely seemed to touch the shingles as he ran faster and faster, until he felt his shunpo jumps suddenly shift. It changed to something else, older and faster still. Another reawakened instinct.

Then something slammed into him, and he was flung backwards with enough force to smash through two walls before hitting the ground. He lay for a moment, stunned, in the crater of his fall, then flipped backwards out of the way as a flash of white-and-red speared towards him.

She landed in the crater, blasting away the dust with the force of her descent. Images flashed through Urai's mind, a picture of heavy-lidded eyes over a grinning bone mouth, then of a dark-skinned gigai woman in a black suit. Now, though, she wore the same red cloak as all Caro's minions, and her mask was almost gone. The gigai her saviors, and captors, had provided had corrupted her Arrancar spirit, and left her in some limbo in-between Hollow and human.

_Join the club_.

"Halibel," he said, crouching on the ground where he had landed. One hand clutched his unreleased Zanpakuto, the other gripped the broken ground for balance. The former Arrancar narrowed her eyes at him, studying him with cold detachment.

"I thought I sensed you," she replied. "But I could hardly believe it. That's why I came. I had to be sure." She stepped forward, drawing her own Zanpakuto. "You should be dead, Fourth."

"I am. Many times over," he growled, even as he let his reiatsu grow to counter hers. She was becoming powerful again... Caro must have done something, found a way to return the strength Urahara had worked so hard to strip from her. "My name now is Maka Urai, and I do not want to fight you."

"But you will," she said, and her sea-green eyes flashed. "Because you are a threat to my new master."

She vanished, and Urai threw up his Zanpakuto just in time to block her downward slash. The blow nearly forced him to his knees; her raw strength was more then he had expected. He slid out from under her sword and jumped backwards, dodging this way and that as she pursued him with a flurry of blows. She did not let up for a moment, did not give him a heartbeat to steady himself, and he was forced to remain on the defensive as she pressed him backwards up the street.

_She isn't going to give me the chance to release..._!

Her sword shattered a wall he tried to jump up onto, and his foot slipped on the crumbling stone. He fell among the rubble, barely managing to twist out of the way as she struck again. His mind raced even faster then his now-pounding heart.

_I have to gain a few seconds._

He tried to flee. She hounded him, moving faster then his immature, unpracticed Sonido. Her sword slashed through the sleeve of his kosode and bit into his arm, and he hissed through his teeth as he was forced to hastily retreat yet again.

_She's fast!_

Their swords locked for a moment, seemingly a long moment compared to the clashes that came before. Her face was close to his, close enough that he could feel her cold breath.

"You should have stayed in hiding," she snarled, then twisted her blade and lunged forward. Urai buckled under her force and was thrown to the ground, his Zanpakuto clattering to the street just a yard or two away.

Too far away.

She flashed forward and struck. He flung himself over to reach for the Zanpakuto, his fingers brushing the blade, but he had no breath to speak. Sudden reiatsu seemed to explode above him, and a ringing clang of metal filled the street. Urai felt intense, and intensely familiar, pressure on either side of him, and the almost comically light brush of cloth, but he did not hesitate to consider it. He snatched the blade of his Zanpakuto, ignoring the pain as it cut into his fingers and palm, and grated out a harsh, "Fade, Kuronamida!"

His own reiatsu flared, joining the conflicting energies above him, and the blade shifted and changed beneath his bleeding fingers. He rolled over and rose, whirling his newly-released lance towards Halibel... and saw two other figures already standing between them. A man and a woman.

Their reiatsu tore and whipped around them like a hurricane, throwing their long knots of (respectively) black and orange hair into wild flurries of movement. Both wore Shinigami uniforms, but torn and tattered almost beyond recognition. The taut skin of their bare, muscular arms and legs were crisscrossed with decades of scars, giving each the air of some wild, hardened animal. Their Zanpakutos were crossed over where Urai had lain a moment ago, Halibel's caught between them.

But their burning spiritual energy... that was what he recognized. He knew his ghosts.

Then the clash of blades ended. The black-haired man flashed away and appeared behind Halibel in a wild storm of uncontrolled energy, slashed her across the back from shoulder to hip. She let out a yell and jumped away, teeth gritted in pain, but now it was her turn to be hounded. The two ghosts charged her with reckless abandon, their Zanpakutos flashing in the ambient firelight... and Urai felt a cold shiver run down his spine as both began to laugh.

Exhilaration, but not joy. It sounded like laughter he had experienced before, in the Rukongai, and always before it had been the short-lived laughter of relief, a sudden release from desperation. But this didn't fade after a few moments, but escalated with every stone-shattering blow of a Zanpakuto.

Urai watched as the three fighters smashed through the streets around him, hardly daring to move. He had originally intended to rejoin the fight, but this was no longer a battle between Shinigami and Arracar – it more resembled a battle between rabid dogs. Halibel, for all the strength she had regained under Caro, had no more of an idea how to deal with these wild pit ghosts then Urai did, and they did not let the assault fall for a heartbeat. They attacked from both sides, their forms and stances nothing that resembled anything Urai had ever seen, and there was no harmony between them. They fought alone, with only the barest hints of cooperation in that they flanked Halibel and did not actively try to murder one another.

Then Halibel's sword caught the male ghost in the side. He faltered and Halibel followed up the blow with another, right across his scarred chest. He fell backwards, crashing into the ground even as Halibel whirled on his flame-haired companion.

Urai tensed, but the female ghost was not caught off-guard. She blocked Halibel's rush and backed away, suddenly wary. For the first time, there was a moment's pause as the two women eyed one another.

Halibel held her Zanpakuto ready, but she said nothing, spoke no release phrase. Perhaps she felt she did not need it, but Urai felt there was something else behind her silence.

What the female ghost guessed, Urai couldn't tell, but she glanced from Zanpakuto to Halibel, then to her injured companion visible over Halibel's shoulder. She drew in a sharp breath, then growled out, in a hoarse voice practically rusty from disuse,

"Wa-il... Mai-get-su...!"


	72. Interlude 33

Interlude

Maigetsu danced alone on the frozen ocean, under the bright moon that shone forever full.

His Shinigami laughed once more.

The ice beneath him crackled with energy, and the moon itself seemed to shiver. As he stretched out a pale arm towards the horizon, he saw a strange gleam, a hint of red, creeping over the stationary waves.

She had not laughed in years. Something about it made her inner world come alive.

And, yet...

She laughed, but she fought. Maigetsu waited, hoping for a call he could not be sure would come.

_Say my name, Ryohime._

Maigetsu's movement ceased. He stood still, and he watched as a foreign light crept over his lonely world.

He hadn't said anything.

Once more, it was that stranger's voice. After so many years, she had called for someone else, and someone else had answered. Or had she? Maigetsu could not say, but there was a sense deep inside him that knew she was slipping away from him. Or she had... but she did not remember.

He did.

He felt her desperation, but there was no summons. The ice cracked beneath him with a sound like sharp thunder, but still he listened in vain.

"Again, why can't I hear you?" he whispered into the growing dawn light. "Again, you fight alone when you need but call my name?"

_That is not my name..._

A stranger's voice, but a familiar tone. Fear, confusion... he knew this situation. It had happened only hours... days? Or, had it been years?... before, and yet Ryohime could not remember. But last time, it had been he who heard the wrong summons while waiting to leap to her side. Now, that strange second voice was the one left unanswered, for even as the echoes of his cry faded Maigetsu heard her, calling _his_ name.

_Something is wrong. _

_We will deal with it later. Together._


	73. Chapter Thirty-Eight

Chapter Thirty-Eight

What was left of the Fourteenth Division stepped through the garganta into a ruined Seireitei. All lingering thoughts of their former arguments vanished as the stark reality of Caro's war hit them all at once. Kitsune, obviously the weakest of the group, shuddered and rubbed his arms, his fox-red hair standing up on end from the sheer amount of ambient reiatsu in the air.

"What happened?" murmured Herald, his usual stoic expression broken by the sheer scope of the destruction. He had seen massive damage before, had caused it himself when he drained most of his inherited Arrancar power to kill Aizen, but that had been in a pre-existing wasteland. This was spread out across the whole of Seireitei and, from the look of black smoke in the far distance, across the upper districts of the Rukongai.

Perhaps smaller battles were still going on somewhere beneath the chaos, but their attention was captured by the dozen captain-level battles raging across the ruin. Two, Steve recognized. The spiritual pressure of Kurosaki Taichou raged against that of another captain near the Eleventh Division barracks, and somewhere in the distance he could sense Urahara Taichou battling what felt like an Arrancar, but the air was so messy with energy it was hard to tell. He could point out those few because he was very familiar with those particular captains.

Behind the co-lieutenants, the other members of the Special Units slowly gathered themselves. Yylfordt and Edward drew their Zanpakutos almost at the same time, and Dikayumi began scanning the area for enemies. Erina and Kitsune exchanged concerned looks; their usual job, being the only Kido-users left, would be to find and tend to the wounded, but there was so much destruction (and potential for casualties) that they didn't now where to start, or even if they should start at all.

"Alright," declared Steve finally. "The priority should be the... two last generals, and Caro himself. From the records in the catacombs, we are dealing with Kurotsuchi and Halibel, but I would rather not fight Halibel if at all possible. She's undoubtedly being controlled, too."

"And Kurotsuchi isn't?" asked Herald, and Steve grinned humorlessly.

"Does anyone care?"

No one cared. Even Erina had heard the stories of the former Captain of the Twelfth Division.

"**Shinigami... die, Shinigami..."**

All eyes turned to the source of the growl. A bestial Arrancar, like any of the many lesser Arrancar created by Aizen before he perfected his technique, came crawling towards them along a crooked street wall. Already released, already with blood staining his jagged white fangs, and the hunger for more seemed to have overridden any sense of caution about throwing himself at eight opponents at once.

Edward grinned. His blue eyes narrowed, and an old tone crept into his voice.

"This one's mine. Go on, guys, I'll catch up."

Steve nodded and gestured, and Yylfordt was the only one to hesitate before following him off down the street. The enemy Arrancar tensed to pounce, even as Edward whipped his Zanpakuto to eye-level and scratched his fingernails gratingly over the blade in an unnecessary, but gleefully faithful, display. His eyes burned fiercely over the top of the silver blade.

"Grind your teeth, Kagehyō!"

A moment later, racing even the blast of reiatsu caused by the release of the half-human Resurrección, a black, blue-streaked feline bullet pounced on the Muerte minion. Kagehyō had no reservations about meeting tooth and claw with tooth and claw.

...

Erina could hear the yowls moments after they ran from the battle site, but she kept her eyes fixed ahead. The enemies here would start coming at them hard and fast, and if he couldn't handle one opponent on his own, then the Special Units were in for trouble.

Then, a thought struck her. As they ran, she shouted over to Kitsune, who was closest, "I'm going to help him. We forgot about Caro!"

His red eyes widened, then he nodded. She abruptly turned, skidding backwards for some distance before her momentum ran out, then ran back towards where they had come in.

Divide and conquer. The sight of Seireitei in flames had distracted all of them, made them remember the old battles where force met force and the stronger won out, but the danger they had faced in the World of the Living was the same they faced here. The threat of manipulation. However strong Edward might be, and he _was _strong, it would not help if Caro found him while no one else was around.

She reached him again only a few moments after they left, but already he and the released Arrancar were tearing into one another in a furious midair brawl. The hard, bony hide of the full-Arrancar seemed the far more effective armor compared to Kagehyo's black fur, but Edward had every instinct of a feline battlemaster. The mane of electric-blue fur along his spine stood straight up on end as he weaved through the larger Arrancar's attacks, hissing and clawing at the hardened bone hide with deadly white claws at every chance. Erina wondered for a moment if she should even get involved, then quickly chanted one of her favourite bakudos and wrapped shining yellow chains around the snarling Arrancar.

Edward took full advantage of the sudden advantage. He pounced onto the Arrancar's back like a mongoose and snapped his teeth into the back of the Hollow's neck. Then, with a twisting jump that looked like it would break the back of anything not-a-cat, he vaulted over the Arrancar's head and slashed at it's throat with claws fully extended.

Of course, he landed on his feet.

The Arrancar howled in pain and stumbled, falling heavily to the ground. Edward darted forward, resealing his Resurrección even as he moved, and rammed his Zanpakuto straight through the Arrancar's chest, burying the full length of the blade in the thick, vaguely animal-shaped body. The struggling Arrancar went limp, then it's own Resurrección faded, leaving only the red-cloaked body behind.

Edward slashed his Zanpakuto through the air, then sheathed it in satisfaction. He glanced questioningly at Erina, but she didn't notice.

"I wonder..." she muttered, jumping down to kneel next to the dead Arrancar. She pulled the cloak off and, after using a very low-level kido to clean the blood off, swirled it around her shoulders and flipped up the hood.

"You're not thinking what it looks like you're thinking, are you?" asked Edward, and Erina grinned.

"Why not?"

"Because, I feel I must remind you, we _are not sneaky._ There are passwords, remember, and code phrases and group numbers, or whatever... none of which we know."

"Does it look like anyone is paying attention to that right now?" she protested, and an explosion near the base of Sogyoku Hill helped make her point right on cue. "We might be able to avoid more battles if we go undercover, and I, for one, would rather not have to fight brainwashed Shinigami."

Edward considered for a long moment, then lifted his shoulders in a careless shrug. "Alright, it's worth a shot. We'll just have to pick up another cloak on the way to wherever it is you intend on going."

"After the others, of course. We still need to stick together, and I have a feeling that, without some disguises, we are only going to keep getting noticed."

"By worse and worse opponents," growled Edward, and, again, an explosion emphasized his point.

…

This time, the explosion was not at Sogyoku Hill. It was right on top of the rest of the Fourteenth forces.

A white hyori flapped in the wind, and glaring, cold grey eyes focused on each of the Special Units members in turn. Without waiting for the dust to clear, four young voices rose in command, releasing their various powers while Kitsune alone dropped to the ground, gasping for breath under the captain-level pressure.

Lilynette prowled around Herald's legs, snarling. Yylfordt cracked his released whip in the air threateningly, taking a swift step forward and to one side to get between this new opponent and Steve. Charles did the same for Kitsune, though he dared not take his eyes off the enemy in order to help the mod soul up. Dikayumi instantly hopped back and up into the air to get a bird's eye view of the situation, his bow materializing in his hand before any of the others had finished their releases.

And so they were as ready as they could be when the dust settled, and they realized the woman facing them, small and deadly as a poisoned dagger, was the Captain of the Second Division.

Charles stiffened.

Nnoitra awoke.

_They killed Tesla._

It was only by the swift action of Steve that he did not immediately jump into almost certain death. As soon as the captain revealed herself, Steve looked at Charles and saw the sudden shift in stance, from defensive to aggressive, and he knew it wasn't Charles anymore. One of his hands flashed out and he closed his invisible puppet strings around Nnoitra in that split second, yanking him back even as he leapt forward.

"Let me go, Szayel," snarled the Fifth through Charles's voice. His body tensed like a spring and Steve clenched his fist, feeling the strain threatening to break his hold.

"Not... yet..." he hissed through gritted teeth. "She hasn't... attacked yet."

Soi-Fon Taichou had not moved an inch since she landed, except her eyes. They scanned the group dispassionately, appraising them like cattle at an auction.

"So, what side are you on?" asked Herald, just for the sake of stalling. He did not doubt where her loyalties were; the Stealth Force Commander had barely paid attention to them when her forces were actively arresting them last year for (apparently) murdering a captain. For her to be here now when there were Arrancar loose in the city, there was obviously something manipulating her prioritizes.

Nor did she feel the need to reply to him. She drew her small sword and fixed her eyes on Herald, prompting the wolf-spirit that was Lilynette to raise her hackles and growl threateningly.

"You killed Aizen," she declared. "Caro wants you dead."

Herald shrugged. "I killed a third of Aizen, and it actually cost me quite a bit, so I'm not as big a threat as you probably think."

Soi-Fon's eyes narrowed. "Regardless, orders are orders."

She twitched, and everyone exploded into action at once.


	74. Chapter Thirty-Nine

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Like a long-suppressed dam finally broken, decades of pent-up emotion had rushed out all at once. The initial flood had been overwhelming, but now it was past and the current had steadied. She caught her breath and did not laugh, though her heart still soared at the reality of the situation. It was dizzying, the relief of being real. And Maigetsu was with her, and an opponent was before her, and she did not have to hold back her blade for fear of being left all alone.

"Wail," she croaked again, even as she jumped backwards away from her enemy. "Maigetsu!"

This time, he answered.

The blade of her Zanpakuto glowed teal, then swooped back, long and narrow but curved like a scimitar. Jagged hooks extended from the lower third of the blade, aimed down towards her hand. Even the hilt shifted beneath her fingers, curving just slightly, becoming heavier at the pommel to balance out the length of the blade. A narrow chain of oval links crawled up her arm and crisscrossed the spartan remnants of her _kosodo_ before continuing down her other arm to dangle, loosely, around her wrist.

The former Espada did not wait for her release. She had lunged the first time, but Maigetsu had not responded then. The second time, surprised by the failure to release, the enemy had hesitated, and _then_ Maigetsu responded.

"I know you," hissed the enemy aloud, her sea-green eyes narrowing. "But... you are all wrong."

_You aren't mistaken._

The attempt at conversation did not go further. Even as the other woman spoke, _she_ flipped her Zanpakuto over in her hand so the blade aimed backwards, behind her, and twisted to lead with her seemingly-empty left hand. Her lips parted in a grim, gleeful smile.

_Let's do this._

From the sidelines, unbeknownst to her, Urai watched with dry disbelief even as he tried to heal her companion. "What kind of stance is _that_?"

He received no response.

The pale light of his emergency healing-kido hardly seemed adequate for the job fate had given him. Urai could barely find any exposed skin that wasn't marked by some old, badly-healed injury, and from the state of the man's uniform it had suffered almost as much abuse as he had. Urai's gaze snapped over to where the two women clashed, and knew she would be exactly the same.

And yet, despite her appearance, despite fighting like no Shinigami ever trained in Seireitei, she held her own. In fact, slowly but surely, she forced Halibel back.

The shikai flickered from one hand to the other as she pushed forward, as if the Zanpakuto itself was capable of flash-stepping at will. It was dizzying to watch, for at times the switch was so fast it almost _looked_ like she was wielding two swords at once, and she certainly _fought_ like she was. Her empty hand would rise, fingers loosely gripping nothing but air, to block a blow even as she slashed forward with the other, and then at the last moment the sword would vanish and reappear in her blocking hand. Her sudden feints, and there were many, came with no warning. Halibel, unable to block two opposing blows consistently, kept being forced to duck and retreat to avoid the potential blows, whether they were actually there or not. Shallow cuts from the flashing blade crisscrossed her arms and cheeks, testament to unforeseen attacks just barely dodged at the last second, and suddenly Urai made the connection between the liquid, flurrying dance of that bizarre fighting style and the many scars covering his patient's skin. The former, clearly, responsible for the latter.

She took blows without seeming to notice them, as if she was numb to the pain even as Halibel's sword dripped with her blood. Urai anticipated the moment the latter snapped, released some impressive Arrancar power, but though their energy rose violently with each clash, Halibel made no such move. When the flashing Zanpakuto slashed across her face, tearing flesh and smashing bone from chin to ear, and she did not release, Urai realized that she _could_ not.

Whatever else Caro may have done for her, he hadn't found a way to restore the _Resurreccion_ Urahara had stolen from her.

.

.

_Ryohime!_

_._

She faltered.

Halibel's Zanpakuto slashed down past her empty, upraised hand and hit her shoulder, cutting deeply with no blocking blade to stop it. She gasped in pain and surprise, but still, instinctively, slashed at her attacker with her sword-hand.

The blade should have hit squarely, cutting into Halibel's side, but it barely scratched her. The reach was off; Maigetsu was gone.

Her enemy struck again. She frantically raised her injured arm to block the blow and it cut to the bone – this time, she screamed.

.

_**Ryohime!**_

.

A kick sent her flying, smashing into the ground below their rooftop perch. Through pain-blurred vision, she saw their friend rising from where he had been crouching, a gleaming green lance in hand.

Then Halibel jumped down after her, Zanpakuto aimed to skewer, and the world faded.

_The moon eclipsed the sun, and neither shone clear. _

_She stood on the rocky shore, staring at the impossible dawn with no comprehension. Then a familiar voice called her, and she turned her back on the ice and her face towards the cliffs._

_Maigetsu sat, perched, on the top, his dark robes fluttering in the ocean breeze. And, standing further down the beach among the rocks, there stood someone else. Someone who had called her name._

_An empty sob burst from her chest._

"_Muramasa?"_

_Her old, old friend had a haunted look, a familiar look she had seen, and expressed, many times in her exile. Even as he took a hesitant step forward, Maigetsu rose and leapt off his cliff, landing on her other side in a flurry of loose sand._

"_Come," he said, his stern voice broken by a hint of concern. "We have a fight to finish."_

_She could not answer him. Muramasa took another step towards her._

"_What happened, Ryohime? Why have you fallen silent?"_

_She swallowed hard. '_Ryohime_'_

_They had stopped using their names. She could barely remember why, but at some point they had stopped being the people those names belonged to. She was just... herself, and he was himself._

"_He is an intruder," hissed Maigetsu, and now he, too, was walking forward. "Do not listen to him."_

"_I was here before you," retorted Muramasa, "and whatever you have done to Ryohime, I _will_ undo." Their gazes left her and locked onto one another. Maigetsu's blade materialized in his hand. Muramasa raised one hand, his long fingernails accentuating every twitch. _

"_Matte..."_

_They did not hear her._

_Shards of rock and a wave of pulverized sand blasted across the shore, and in the middle of it the two Zanpakutos clashed. She shielded her eyes with one bare arm, and though she tried to raise her voice it was too weak to be heard over the sounds of their battle. Even in the haven of her own mind, words had stopped mattering. Maigetsu spoke little and demanded no answers, theirs was a relationship built on action. They fought, and she learned, and he was content. _

_That was who she had become. Muramasa belonged to a young woman who did not exist anymore._

_Did Zanpakutos bleed? _

_His fingernails clicked against one another as he clutched his arm, and his eyes were on her once more._

"_Ryohime."_

But it has been too long. I've grown... I'm not your princess anymore.

_Maigetsu gritted his teeth and jumped back, his robe shredded by four long tears. They stood, tense and ready, waiting for the other to make a move. Muramasa's eyes flicked over to her again._

_Something deep, deep inside her soul broke. The silent sob from earlier came back, and this time her eyes welled up with tears._

_Maigetsu flashed forward, but she got there first._

"_Muramasa!" she sobbed, and her arms clamped around his slim waist just as she had done a thousand times as a child. Maigetsu skidded to a stop, his eyes wide and the Zanpakuto slipping from his fingers, but she did not give him time to think. She released Muramasa with one hand and grabbed the front of Maigetsu's robes, pulling him in with the fierce strength two decades of endless training had given her. Her arm slipped around his shoulders, and tightened. _

"_You're still mine," she cried, relieved and almost dizzy from sudden joy. "And I... am still Ryohime."_

_Muramasa's fingers slipped through her over-long hair. Maigetsu, tense with unease from the moment she arrived, seemed to relax. _

_Ryohime took a breath and stepped back, away from the embrace, but her hands never released them. In one hand, she clutched the small, delicate hand of Maigetsu. In the other, Muramasa's narrow, bony fingers. Her eyes gleamed with refreshed determination._

"_We," she declared, "have a fight to finish."_


	75. Chapter Forty

Chapter Forty

"What _is_ the plan, here?"

Kitsune's question echoed what Dikayumi had been wondering to himself ever since the captain intercepted them. The two of them stood at a distance from the fight; Kitsune so he wouldn't be crushed by the rampant reiatsu and Dikayumi because he was far more useful at long-range then in the middle of a many-man brawl. Even so, Dikayumi had only fired a few shots so far, and those as warnings.

Soi-Fon Taichou was, after all, under the control of Caro. No one but Nnoitra really _wanted_ to kill her, but she most definitely wanted to kill them. Steve and Herald were trying to fight defensively as a result, but Nnoitra and Yylfordt kept almost getting themselves killed by getting within range of the captain's deadly needle-shikai. It was there that Dikayumi's warning shots were aimed – whenever Soi-Fon got too close, he sent a bolt of blue energy slashing between her and her target, giving the latter a chance to beat a hasty retreat.

"This is going nowhere."

_So come up with some ideas, Kitsune_.

But the mod soul, Dikayumi knew, wasn't there to come up with ideas. As big a help as he could be in certain circumstances, solving the moral quandary of fighting a woman essentially brainwashed into trying to kill you was something he was definitely not qualified for.

Neither, it seemed, were any of the rest of them.

Herald flashed in from one side as she, once again, tried to get that second hit on Nnoitra's left shoulder, his own blow aimed for her wrist. Killing her was out of the question, but no one dared turn their back while she had that deadly stinger. She turned on him, jabbing like a snake, and he jumped back just as Lilynette jumped _in_. The spirit wolf clamped her jaws around Soi-fon's heel and ground her teeth in hard, taking the two reactionary lightning-stabs in the back with barely a growl. It was Herald who flinched. Lilynette was the manifestation his power as well as a memory of his former life, and, though the venom of Soi-fon's blade could not kill her, he could feel it twisting inside their shared link.

Nnoitra swung his tangled whip of chains at Soi-fon's head and she dragged Lilynette to one side as she dodged, hissing at the pain. Lilynette growled through her mouthful of leg and crouched low to the ground, making herself as heavy a weight as she could be. Nnoitra, of course, charged in again, Yylfordt right behind him, but Dikayumi saw Soi-fon's hand flash and put another arrow in the air.

_This is a stalemate. _

Soi-fon almost seemed to come to the same conclusion. She straightened, glaring around at the scattered members of the Fourteenth Division as they prepared for another assault.

Then, without a whisper, black-clad men began appearing around them.

Dikayumi's heart sank.

None of them wore red cloaks, but among the simple black-cloth masks he could see a few with pale bone fragments, and all wore a thin red ribbon around their upper arms, where a lieutenant badge would have been tied. These were not allies. There was a mass slither of steel as some twenty Stealth Force members drew their swords, and every single one of those blades was fixed on them. Kitsune slipped around to stand back to back with Dikayumi, sliding his tiny dagger out of its hidden sheath.

"Two behind us, Quincy-san," he said quietly.

Dikayumi's hand went to his belt, and the Seele Schneider hilts there. _But these are Stealth Force... we can't outmaneuver the Stealth Force!_

"Bakudo them," he muttered back to Kitsune. "I'll finish the job."

"Sounds good to me."

The compromised Stealth Force attacked as one.

Dikayumi began picking off his shots, careful but quick as he could without compromising his aim. The Stealth Force were quick, even for Shinigami, and he had trouble predicting their movements with the accuracy his father would surely have expected. When he felt Kitsune shift behind him, he immediately turned and shot an arrow straight at the nearest attacker, but the man dodged quickly enough for it to just graze his cheek. Kitsune lifted both hands, dagger still clutched in one.

"Bakudo no kyo, Geki!"

Red light flickered around their attacker, stopping him in his tracks. Without a chant, the paralysis would not hold a Shinigami for long, but Dikayumi did not need long.

_I'm sorry._

He fired three shots, two shattering the man's ankles and the third aimed for his sword-arm. Kitsune immediately turned his attention on the second Stealth Force attacker, but the black-masked Shinigami was quicker. He flickered from several yards away to right in front of them and slashed upwards at Kitsune, catching him across the side with the tip of his Zanpakuto before the blade cut into the mod soul's raised arm.

Kitsune fell with a cry, his dagger clattering off the roof to the street below. Dikayumi pulled a hilt from his belt even as the man attacked and struck back a moment after Kitsune dropped. He hadn't had time to activate the blade, but simply shoved the blunt hilt into the man's throat with all the force he could muster.

Their attacker went down gasping and Dikayumi did not hesitate. He activated the blade and burst into a flurry of movement, slashing the man's hamstrings and then continuing on to the arms. Ideally, he could have simply stabbed the exact spot in the chest where Shinigami power was anchored, but he did not want to risk actually killing the man by having his aim off by a centimeter. So, instead, he crippled the man, then kicked him off the roof to join his fallen companion.

Kitsune groaned, barely managing to stay conscious. Dikayumi stabbed his Seele Schneider into the roof tiles and took one of his emergency healing capsules from his belt.

He was just kneeling to tend to Kitsune when a snap of air warned him of some new threat. He dropped the capsule and threw out his hand for his blade, but the Shinigami intercepted him. The Zanpakuto flashed downward, and Dikayumi gasped as it stabbed through the back of his hand and into the rooftop, pinning him in place.

"No more shooting for you, Quincy scum," the Shinigami hissed, and his free hand shot down in a clenched fist. Dikayumi was no stranger to pain, but the sudden, bony _thunk_ and then piercing agony as the punch landed right in his face made his legs give out. His nose felt like it had caved in backwards into his skull, and it _hurt_.

Then he heard a squeaking scream of anger, and a grunt of surprise. His vision began to clear, though the pain did not lessen, and he saw the Shinigami jerking backwards with Kitsune's knife buried in his shoulder.

_Good throw._

He grabbed the Zanpakuto pinning his hand, gritted his teeth, and yanked the thing out. His breath left all at once, but he clenched his injured hand against the pain and lunged forward with his left, stabbing the Shinigami through the gut with his own sword.

Kitsune plunked down onto the shingles next to him, his squinty-fox eyes wide. "I accidentally used all the blue healing stuff," he said breathlessly, then glanced at his hands. "Kido is too slow..."

Dikayumi groaned and rolled over onto his side, revealing the row of little Quincy gadgets on his belt. "... got more."

Relieved, Kitsune carefully slid one of the healing capsules out of place and popped the lid off. He delicately dropped a few of the drops onto Dikayumi's skewered hand, then splashed the rest right in his face like a cup of water.

Dikayumi gasped, but his head began to clear again almost at once. He took off his bent glasses and wiped them clean, still wincing as his broken nose began to repair itself, and glared at Kitsune.

"Try and use those a bit more sparingly unless it's a life-threatening injury. They take months to make and are very potent."

The mod soul smiled self-consciously. "Oops."

His head still felt like a rhino was running around inside it, but the continued sounds of battle were close and intense and Dikayumi forced himself to get back to his feet. He climbed back up to the peak of the roof and looked over at where everyone else had been fighting.

The black-clad Stealth Force had separated everyone and hounded them, three or four on one, except Lilynette and Herald. The duo was still trying to keep Soi-fon occupied, and Herald had been forced to call in the cavalry to do it.

Lilynette was now running around as three different spirit wolves, keeping Soi-fon between them like a hunting pack. Herald tried to help, but even from a distance Dikayumi could tell the strain was affecting him. He hadn't been able to give Lilynette more then one physical form ever since the Aizen Incident, but the Second Division now gave him no choice.

Suddenly, Dikayumi realized no one was paying attention to him.

He summoned his bow and snapped his Seele Schneider up to the string.

_One_.

His mind raced, but there was no way to warn the others without also alerting the Stealth Force that something was up. He reached for his belt again.

_Two._

"Kitsune, get well out of the way," he insisted. The borders would be well defined, but Kitsune was a fragile creature compared to everyone else in Seireitei. The mod soul hesitated for just a moment, then obeyed.

_Three._

For once, Dikayumi wondered if, maybe, they should have found a way to keep the mental network that had connected them the previous year. It would be handy in a situation like this.

_Four._

Steve noticed the streak of blue as it flashed over the shoulder of his nearest opponent. He flung out his hands like a conductor, turning two Stealth Force members against the nearest, and scanned the area. Dikayumi could almost see the realization hit him.

Dikayumi stabbed the final point in place. Below, Steve leapt away from the formation with one hand outstretched, just barely managing to snag Yylfordt from where he was battling two Stealth Force members a dozen yards away. The blonde was yanked backwards with a yelp, but barely cleared the boundaries before Sprenger exploded into blue energy, capturing the Stealth Force, Soi-Fon, Lilynette and Herald, and Nnoitra within the blast.

The roar of it pounded through Dikayumi's head, but he tried to ignore the pain. He watched, concerned, as the blue light began to fade.

_They're strong_, he told himself. _I only used two-thirds power..._

The dust settled. A few dark figures slowly rose from the blackened ground of the pentagon, and Dikayumi saw with a surge of relief a flicker of pale energy as Lilynette appeared beside one of them.

Many of the Stealth Force had simply vanished, vaporized by the blast. Not all of them. Besides a blast-blackened Nnoitra and Herald, four Stealth Force members had also survived, and Soi-fon. One of them, the first to rise, flash-stepped over to help her up even as the others tried to recover enough to face the Fourteenth Division.

"Round two," muttered Kitsune as he ran past Dikayumi, heading for the shallow crater. Lilynette was nosing Herald, trying to get her head under his arm, for though he had survived he was still on the ground, apparently unable to get to his feet.

"Be careful," Dikayumi tried to call after him, but his voice failed him. Suddenly, guilt raised its cruel head. Some nasty little voice in the back of his mind laughed at him.

_The Black would have been proud. _

Then a choked gasp broke the careful silence. Down on the ground, the man who had gone to help Soi-fon twisted a dagger into her heart.


	76. Chapter Forty-One

Chapter Forty-One

Urai snatched Kuronamida from off the ground and lunged forward, even as his female ghost fell. Perhaps her _shikai_ was on a time limit, perhaps her spiritual energy had run out – whatever the reason, in a moment, the tide of the battle had turned. But she had saved his life only minutes ago without even asking his name. Now, he knew, was his chance to return the favor.

He reached her a heartbeat before Halibel and swept the former Espada's blade away from his ghost's unconscious body, colliding with her in midair. They tumbled to the street several feet away from the fallen ghost, but Halibel was quick to leap to her feet again. Urai rolled to avoid her attack and get to his own feet, whirling his lance in front of him to block the oncoming flurry of blows.

She knew her vulnerability, having no release to fall back on, and so Halibel pressed the attack relentlessly. This time, though, Urai had his _shikai_. Kuronamida's shaft absorbed most of the power in her strikes, translating very little of the force into Urai's much smaller frame. He let himself get pushed back, but now he did so to draw her in, to keep the barrage unbroken as she pressed what appeared to be her advantage.

Then a flash of movement caught his eye. Behind Halibel, where the ghosts had lain, a black streak flickered in and out of existence.

Halibel sensed him coming and jumped away just as the male ghost slashed at her back. His sealed Zanpakuto nearly hit Urai instead, but he did nothing to acknowledge Urai's presence and whirled to chase Halibel once more. Urai's jaw tightened, but he ran back along the street, looking to cut off Halibel's escape, even as his_ shikai_ hummed with power beneath his fingers.

_Be patient_.

It was what he wished he could shout aloud at the ghost messing up his fight, but Kuronamida needed the reminder, too. The Zanpakuto itched to release all her frustrations, all her built-up anger, and it took every bit of Urai's willpower to keep her under control.

What feeble on-the-spot healing Urai had been able to perform for the male ghost did not last long. Within a few moments the two half-healed wounds he had been left with were torn open once more, but he did not slow his movements or lessen the force of his blows. Blood sprayed the ground with each clash, but the ghost seemed not to notice. Halibel flashed away and he followed without hesitation or hint of forethought, looking only to get close enough to hit her with his still-unreleased Zanpakuto.

Urai ran along the edge of the fight, now beside them, now in front of them, trying to intercept either fighter at this point. Kuronamida was becoming difficult to control, raging against Urai's constraint.

_Just a few more seconds!_

Still running, he turned to face the two fighters and clasped his hands (his lance caught between them) with the index and middle fingers of each raised, launching into a hasty chant.

"Water, running down the mountain, and fire, raging through the air. Mingle your blood and seal your fate! Bakudo no nijuusan: Yameruido!"

Halibel threw herself to one side to avoid the jagged streak of purple light, but her attacker did not see the _bakudo_ coming. It struck him a glancing blow, but just that was enough for his momentum and movement to vanish abruptly, leaving him to topple awkwardly off the roof they had been running across and lie on the street below, unable to rise. In that instant, as Halibel turned to see where the attack had come from, Urai had his chance.

Skidding to a stop, he drew back with Kuronamida in his dominate hand, his right foot sliding back to brace against the pavement. The shaft began to burn with green light before he had even drawn the breath – his Zanpakuto was done waiting.

"Yozo..._ratosshin_!"

The lance shot forward like a missile, itself the spearhead for a massive blaze of energy. Halibel vanished behind the light, and Urai could not tell if she tried to block the lance or run from it, but it did not matter either way.

The rooftop on which she had been standing exploded, sending shards of masonry blasting in every direction. Urai ducked behind his arm to shield his eyes, but could not avoid getting cut in a dozen places by flying debris. The dark-haired ghost, who was just getting to his feet as Urai's _bakudo_ faded, was knocked violently backwards by the blast.

Halibel, however...

The former Espada burned with green fire, all stemming from the lance lodged between her ribs. For several long moments she stood, the fire glowing behind her bones in eerie silhouette. Then, almost like a last sigh, her blackened skin began disintegrating into ash.

Urai did not move until the last trace of Halibel had vanished on the wind, then he straightened with a heavy breath and sealed his Zanpakuto once more. Suddenly he remembered his injured ghosts and turned, flash-stepping to the orange-haired woman's side.

Her left arm and shoulder had been heavily injured, bones cracked and muscle severed, but she stirred even as Urai bent over her to perform what patching-up healing he was capable of. Her eyes opened with a snap, irises blazing, and her sudden lunge upwards resulted in a mutual headbutt that sent them both reeling.

"Settle down!" Urai exclaimed, pushing her back to the ground with one hand while the other explored the bridge of his nose for fractures. "I finished off Halibel; we are not in immediate danger anymore."

Of course, like any good insane Shinigami, her expression went straight from determination to disappointment. Her eyes dimmed back to their usual dark brown, her lips curving downward.

"Oh."

Urai twitched. "'Oh'?" he repeated bitingly, leaning in closer to glare at her eye-to-eye. "I'm sorry, but you were _unconscious_, so I had to finish the fight I started. You saved my life, I saved yours, and so now we're even. Don't 'oh' at me as if I stole something from you."

Her expression stretched into shock for a heartbeat, then she seemed to relax against the ground. She closed her eyes, smilingly just a little as if she was embarrassed.

"You're right, sorry. You just... can't imagine how good it is to fight someone who isn't him." She paused, then blinked and looked over at her bleeding companion, who was now struggling to get to his feet _again_. Her eyes hardened. "Good, he's still alive."

Pale light flickered into existence. Urai held his hands over her shoulder and concentrated on trying to stop the bleeding, first. The more complicated stuff, he knew, would have to be done by a Fourth Division healer. His patient groaned, then, ignoring his protestations, pushed herself up on her good arm into a sitting position.

"Go see to him," she insisted, immediately switching back to defiance. "I can handle my own healing."

Urai hesitated, but only until he saw her good hand bathed in a much more intense kido glow then anything he knew how to do. He dipped his head in acknowledgment, then ran over to the dark-haired ghost.

And almost got punched in the face _again._

He ducked under the man's enraged swing and held up his hands, bouncing backwards a few steps on his toes. "I'm sorry I hit you with a bakudo, but I had a clear shot at Halibel and you were in the way! We're all allies here." _I think_.

The man didn't say anything, but he let out a sharp breath and let his arm fall to his injured side. His gaze faded past Urai's shoulder and landed on the woman, and the subtle change in expression (emoting Urai knew not what) perfectly mirrored her own look a moment before when she had seen him.

Not relief, not disappointment, not cheerfulness, or even just recognition. If anything, Urai thought it might, possibly, be a look of assurance, some grim promise, but without context it might mean anything.

"She's done something," he muttered under his breath, also now ignoring Urai. "Something has changed."

Urai's patience with these two was stretched thin to breaking. "I don't know who you are or why you stepped in when Halibel had me pinned, but my debt for that is paid. If I do not start getting answers out of you, I'm going to find the nearest sane officer and turn you in."

Yellow eyes rolled. "You aren't very threatening while actively healing me," the man said hoarsely. "But as long as you can get me back in fighting order, Urai, I'll try and answer... some questions."

"Let's start there, then," suggested Urai. "How do you know my name?"

"We've trained together all year. You just didn't notice us."

Urai didn't feel the need to correct him. In hindsight, it was a pathetic first question.

"Who are you, then?"

The man did not answer. His brow furrowed and he looked away.

"I can answer that." Urai looked around and saw the woman, already looking healed, standing just a few steps away. She drew in a long breath, as if what she was about to say was some risky confession, and slowly, painstakingly, declared, "I am... Kurosaki Ryohime. I... we used to be members of... of the Fourteenth Division."

The air snapped.

Urai's thoughts raced, bringing up questions and supplying possible answers even as his patient tensed, his reiatsu spiking as if preparing for a fight.

"Now?" he asked, caught between anger and confusion. "Why would you tell him that now?"

"It's true, isn't it?" she replied just as intensely. "We can claim otherwise, that those decades made us different people, but who we have become does not change who we _are_."

"It has for me!"

_The Fourteenth Division...? There has only ever been one. I know that name. She was here last week. _

"Kurosaki... but, how?" Urai interrupted, and she tore her attention away from her argumentative companion.

"It is a story too long to even begin now, but we are here now, and we have trained for decades with one purpose."

The argument suddenly seemed to be forgotten. Eyes burning, her companion growled, "We will kill Caro."

…

Holes were beginning to appear in the formation. Everyone was converging, and then in their fighting members of both sides were drawn away from wherever they had once been stationed. Urai could sense, on the very edge of his abilities, his own captain battling the First Division Captain at the edge of Seireitei, a battle which left scars all the way from the First Division Barracks where it had begun.

Nor were they the only two former allies battling across the city, and beyond. Something had sparked, an order from Caro or a concerted effort from the surviving Shinigami, and the conflict had redoubled in strength and intensity.

Now, they only had to wait for an opening. A chance to slip past the remaining captains standing guard, and then reach the First Division barracks.

Now, Urai had allies. They had a plan.


	77. Chapter Forty-Two

Chapter Forty-Two

Soi-fon's body hit the scorched ground. Three members of the Stealth Force rounded on the fourth as he slashed his dagger through the air, spraying the ground with the blood of his captain.

"Shinigami are the enemy," he snarled, voice partially muffled under the mask that covered all but his eyes. "Those human _things_ are not Shinigami, but you are. She was. Caro demands Shinigami blood."

The other three hesitated. The Fourteenth Division didn't move, though Nnoitra would have if Steve hadn't taken control with his Ningyōzukai. Then, as if one gave an invisible signal, the Shinigami pounced on one another.

Within moments, only the one was left standing. He stood over the bodies of his fellows and wiped his dagger-like Zanpakuto off on his sleeve, then looked up at the tense Fourteenth Division all around him. His cold eyes fell on Dikayumi.

"That was a good distraction, Quincy. You seem to have recovered from whatever was ailing you last time we met."

Recognition flooded over them. "Hachiro Fukutaichou?" asked Steve, and the Second Division lieutenant nodded.

"You've stepped into a nest of Menos here, Fourteens. Half of our Divisions are on the wrong side, and half of the rest are dead. Do you have a plan?"

Steve narrowed his eyes at the Shinigami. "How do we know _you_ are on the right side?"

Hachiro sheathed his Zanpakuto with a sharp movement. "I just killed my captain. You don't have to actually trust me anymore then I trust you, but sometimes in a war you have to take chances. I gambled that you would help me take down Caro and his minions. Now it's your turn."

Kitsune, who had dropped to the ground to help Herald, glanced up suspiciously at the lieutenant. "This could be some elaborate ploy to lead us into a trap," he suggested, and Hachiro Fukutaichou turned his dark eyes on him.

"Perhaps. But if Caro is so powerful as to waste a controlled Captain for uncertain gain, then perhaps you should consider getting out of Seireitei before he obliterates you."

Kitsune turned back to his kido without replying.

"There are survivors holed up all over Seireitei. The Twelfth is trying to figure out how to reverse the effects of Caro's hypnotic eyes, and the rest of us are simply trying to buy them the time to do it. Whether or not it will break his hold on the existing turncoats, no one knows. Killing Caro, if nothing else, would ensure he cannot turn anyone _else_ against us. "

"Does your lot have a plan yet to do that?" asked Steve, and Hachiro shook his head.

"He has most of the Captains, and they, along with the Dioses Muerte Generals and the most powerful of his old minions, have the First Division surrounded. No one has been able to get close. The captain of the Eleventh Division was the last to try, and he got caught by your captain. They've been fighting for hours."

A shocked silence fell over the group. Dikayumi felt cold dismay creeping through his veins.

_Caro got to Kurosaki Taichou?_

It was a frightening thought. Everyone knew the other captains were strong, but this was _their_ captain. The person who convinced Seireitei that non-Shinigami were worth supporting as a fighting force.

Herald, sitting now with one arm draped over Lilynette's furry back, grumbled aloud, "Well, that's just perfect. Okay, so we have to draw a few of those captains and generals away so someone can sneak in to take Caro out. Who do you suggest?"

"For you, the Generals," Hachiro replied immediately. "If I had a contingent of Stealth Force behind me I would go after Hisagi Taichou, but I have a feeling some of you Fourteens would have an easier time of it against a true enemy."

"We've already taken out two of them," commented Steve casually, and the Second Division lieutenant looked at him curiously.

"Really? First and Second, I presume? I interrogated one of Caro's men and got the names of the two in Seireitei; Third General Kurotsuchi and Fourth General Halibel, both of whom we are familiar with. I have been trying and failing to learn anything about the other two."

"Dead and exploded, respectively," Steve explained cockily. "The First had some mind-twisting powers like Caro's, but we killed him-"

"_I_ killed him while you were fighting one another in the sand," interrupted Nnoitra with a snarl.

"...and the Second really didn't seem like much of a threat in the first place. Unless it was in helping to provide all the low-level Arrancar Caro has running around, which I suppose is kind of annoying."

"Tell that to the Shinigami they've been eating alive," Hachiro retorted, then drew his duel-dagger Zanpakutos again. "The information about the Generals you've already defeated needs to be reported, but I can help you find the other two, first. Track, _Seishinkari_."

"I thought that you couldn't track someone when there was a lot of interference," Dikayumi ventured, and the lieutenant glanced briefly at him before closing his eyes to better focus on his shikai.

"Those Generals blaze like bonfires, Quincy. It might be next-to-impossible for a Shinigami to find them over the chaos of the other battles going on all over Seireitei, but _Seishinkari_ is smarter then a Shinigami, and he isn't looking for subtle remnants this time. Ah... wait..." He cocked his head to one side, frowning. "I found her earlier without a problem... but there _he_ is. That's strange." He opened his eyes and rose. "General Halibel seems to be either gone or dead. The last of her reiatsu-trace is in that direction, close to the foot of Sogyoku Hill. Kurotsuchi, on the other hand, seems to be coming this way. Our little battle has not gone unnoticed."

Steve laced his fingers and cracked his knuckles. "Perfect. Thank you, Fukataichou, we can take it from here."

Hachiro looked at the body of his former captain for a moment, then back up at Steve, and his cold eyes seemed to ask, _really?_, before he let his shikai fade away.

"I'll bring reinforcements when I can," he promised. "Whether or not you survive, this may be our best shot to get inside the First's barracks to hit Caro." Without another word, he vanished.

Nnoitra made a disappointed _tch_ noise, then shook his head like a wet dog. With a wince and a disgruntled huff, Charles was back.

"I hate it when he does that," he grumbled, then looked around at all the dead Shinigami with some regret. "At the very least, I hope that will keep his blood-lust sated for a while so this doesn't happen again..."

"When it comes to the Second Division, I don't think he'll ever be satisfied," suggested Steve mercilessly. "Though Dikayumi was the one who got most of them."

"Thanks for reminding me," sighed Dikayumi. Guilt was still wriggling around inside him, but he tried to ignore it as he glanced around the battle site. "Where are Edward and Erina? They should have caught up to us by now."

No one immediately replied, but Steve jumped up onto the highest standing structure and scanned their surroundings.

"I don't see or sense him," he called down. "Knowing my brother, he probably just saw someone else to fight and ran off again, and Erina followed him like a besotted puppy." He hopped back down to ground level. "We can't split up further to go look for him, though, especially not now. We have a showdown coming our way, and if those two are just too busy to come help, they'll have to miss it."

…

Edward and Erina crept through the streets, both now clad in the red cloaks of the Dioses Muerte. The battle that had drawn Edward onward was over, the powerful reiatsus faded, but he still insisted on investigating.

"Didn't they feel familiar to you?" he asked again, voice low, as Erina hesitated to follow him over a very destroyed warehouse. "I can't nail it down, but I'm sure it was someone we know."

"That could be almost half the officers in Seireitei," she whispered back, reluctantly climbing through the burnt, frozen, and splintered beams. "We encountered and fought a ton of Shinigami during the Aizen Incident, and most of them would not be particularly glad to see us again now. And that's even if they _weren't_ turned by Caro."

He did not reply, but stopped and sniffed the air. Erina looked around while he did so, nervous of being seen by someone. The fighting in their area had died down minutes ago, but she could still feel that subtle pressure of powerful spirits somewhere not far off.

"This way."

But Edward was confident, so Erina followed him. He would not turn back until he had satisfied his curiosity, and she dared not leave him alone, or the next time they met up one or the other of them might have been ensnared by Caro and there would be no way to tell.

Suddenly, Edward stopped. Erina followed his gaze and saw a body lying in the center of a huge ring of destruction; not a crater from one large attack, but an entire circle of obliterated buildings and smashed streets from some long, bitter battle.

"Someone's killing captains," Erina murmured, looking sadly down at the haori-clad figure. She recognized the number, and the man who wore it. She had healed him once the previous year.

"And I think I know who's doing it," growled Edward, and his eyes blazed. He pointed, and when Erina looked, there was no mistaking the great slash of destruction that cut through two buildings and half the ruined plaza.

"Kurosaki Taichou," she breathed.

Edward's electric-blue reiatsu began to flicker in his narrow eyes.

"I think it may finally be time for our rematch, Kurosaki."


	78. Chapter Forty-Three

Chapter Forty-Three

"Right, we have a bit of time, so let's set up a captain-killing trap. Kurotsuchi needs some payback, and I'm _dying_ to dish it out," declared Steve, rubbing his hands together gleefully. His eyes almost glowed with excitement as he began throwing orders around. "Kitsune, you specialize in _bakudos_, right? Get your strongest one ready, but hold it. Dikayumi, set up another whatchacallit, a Quincy-Star. When Kurotsuchi arrives, Charles, you and Herald will draw him in to the middle of the exploding-star, Kitsune will catch him with his _bakudo_ and I'll back him up with _Ningyōzukai. _Dikayumi will blow the star sky-high, and we all flash in after to finish off whatever's left. Then we should have a clear shot to Caro to clean this whole thing up."

He snapped his fingers at them, smiling in satisfaction at his plan, but only Kitsune moved to obey. Charles and Herald exchanged doubtful looks, Yylfordt stared off into the distance with a pained expression, and Dikayumi slid to a sitting position on his rooftop, looking sick. Steve glanced around at them all, his smile fading, then he let out an impatient breath.

"What's the matter? We have the upperhand here, but we need to actually _take advantage of it_ for that to mean anything."

"Kurotsuchi isn't the only one heading for us," Charles replied grimly. "Can't you sense it? Dikayumi's attack told every enemy in the city where we are, and Kurotsuchi isn't the only one who is coming to investigate it."

"A captain," Herald ventured, scowling at the sky. "A lieutenant, or someone else at that level. Multiple Hollows, though none that feel very dangerous."

Dikayumi called faintly from his rooftop, sounding as puny as he looked. "Does anyone else feel that? Something bad is coming."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that would be the evil-freaking-clown coming our way. Kitsune, fix Dikayumi. We need his Quincy powers."

"Er, what about the _bakudo_?" Kitsune stopped dead in his tracks, a large ribbon wrapped around both his arms and then hanging down to form a hexagon in the street. "This kind of takes a lot of concentration..."

"I think Grimmjow needs backup..." muttered Yylfordt, unconsciously leaning forward as if ready to launch himself across Seireitei to his former master's aid. Steve threw up his arms in frustration, spinning around to face Herald.

"Fine, no one likes my plan! Feel free to jump in with your own whenever you like, co-lieutenant. I'm sure _that_ one will be flawless."

"No, I think..." began Herald, then stopped, tense. This time, Steve wasn't too distracted to notice it, too. A clash, reiatsu that they all felt they should recognize, but couldn't quite. And powerful people coming closer.

Steve straightened. "I have a new plan. None of us can afford to be alone because of Caro's powers, so pair up. Yylfordt, you're with me. Charles, with Dikayumi. Herald, you get Kitsune and Lilynette. We have multiple enemies incoming and they will doubtless try to separate us, but _do not leave your partner_."

"That, I agree with," grumbled Herald. "As for dealing with Caro's last general-"

His next words were drowned out by a crack of energy, blasting across the battered crater of a street with a roar like an angry motorcycle. The Fourteenth Division scattered, jumping to one side or another to avoid the crimson blast.

Steve, Kitsune, and Yylfordt landed on the right, while Dikayumi, Herald, and Charles flash-stepped to the left. All eyes turned to the origin of the blast – the two figures standing further down the street where there had been no one a moment before.

Kurotsuchi Mayuri smirked across the battlefield, his golden eyes finding Steve with no hesitation and without a glance at anyone else. There was something in his gaze that set Steve's blood on fire, something condescending yet hateful, as if simultaneously gloating at already having killed him once while despising him for surviving.

The creature next to him was a Hollow- no, multiple Hollows, scavenged for parts and stapled together into a fire-eyed monstrosity. Not the same monstrosity they had defeated in the World of the Living, but another of the same ilk; an experimental nightmare that hated everything and everyone for simply existing. Red light flickered between its crooked horns, the fading remnant of the tattered _cero_ it had just launched.

_Secondary,_ thought Steve, annoyed. _So, the self-destruct did not kill it. I knew we should have stayed and made sure for ourselves._

Lilynette bared her teeth and snarled, but no other words were exchanged. Steve had a dozen snarky lines on the tip of his tongue, but none of them seemed quite up to the task of communicating his intense loathing for the Shinigami facing them.

"Manipulate, _Kamakiriha_!"

The air whipped past them in a flurry as Charles released his Zanpakuto. The half-broken chains at his side shattered and vanished into the air, replaced by new gleaming lengths looped at his waist like the pistols of a gunslinger. His coat-tails flapped in the wind as he leveled his Zanpakuto at the former-Captain.

Steve winced in slight annoyance as another release went off right next to him, sending shards of pavement slashing past his cheek. "Impale_, Awaikunshu_."

Yylfordt's release had progressed since the Aizen Incident. Not the whip, which he snapped through the air with the same attitude of a man cracking his knuckles before a fight, but the armor. The single bone helmet had become helmet, bracers, gauntlets, and boots, all pale white and sleek with narrow, viciously sharp spikes. He crouched, flicking the tip of his whip this way and that as he eyed their opponents.

Herald, of course, already had Lilynette prowling beside him, and Steve's release had yet to fade from their last battle. Their combined reiatsu forced Kitsune to beat a hasty retreat, and there was certainly no way for them to slip back under the radar now. Flickers of movement on distant rooftops betrayed the approach of new opponents, Shinigami, Hollows, and who-knew-what else.

"I didn't want to sneak around, anyway," Steve muttered, and everyone in the cratered-street flashed into action. With Yylfordt on his heels, Steve went straight for Kurotsuchi's smirking face.

…

_Why am I doing this?_

Charles stood by Dikayumi, keeping one eye on the Quincy even as he scanned for unaccounted-for threats. Kurotsuchi's monster-Hollow (Charles decided to call it Frank) pounced at Herald, the closest target, but Charles really didn't think the former Primera needed anyone's help. As for Steve's fight, there was no way Charles was getting in-between the two lunatics on the other side of the crater.

_Because I want to kill Shinigami while you have an excuse. Not that _I_ need an excuse, but humans are wimps._

"Shut up, Nnoitra," he grumbled, glancing again at Dikayumi. The youngest member of their party still looked like he was about to pass out, and Charles wasn't sure why. He had looked uncomfortable after setting off that explosion and vaporizing those Shinigami, but surely he hadn't used _too_ much spiritual energy in that attack. If he had, he should be looking better as time went on, not worse.

The two Shinigami he had sensed investigating appeared on a wall a few streets over, one in all black and the other wearing a white haori that fluttered in the wind. They might have been allies as easily as enemies, but Charles turned to face them nonetheless.

"Can you stand?" he asked Dikayumi, and the Quincy took a deep, shuddering breath.

"I feel like something's clawing at my insides," Dikayumi admitted, his tone pained. "He's getting worse."

Charles' grip on his Zanpakuto tightened. "'_He_'? Now is not a good time to go Hollow on us."

Dikayumi did not reply. Charles glanced over his shoulder, just for a moment, to see him doubled over, clutching his chest.

Then, a flash of movement. He instinctively raised his Zanpakuto, only barely catching the blade that slashed down towards his face.

The dark-haired captain leaned into his attack, the sudden pressure forcing Charles to jump backwards over Dikayumi in order to keep his balance.

"Are you an ally of Seirietei?" asked the captain, voice raised over the sounds of battle across the crater. Charles narrowed his eyes.

"I am a protector of the World of the Living," he replied. "Any other loyalties come second to protecting innocent humans."

The captain hesitated, his scowl relaxing ever-so-slightly. He, too, glanced at Dikayumi, then back at Charles. "Good answer. Go back to the World of the Living and do just that, and that will be the end of it."

A memory of General Akama flashed through Charles' mind, the former-Shinigami trying to work around Caro's orders to give him a way out of a fight. This captain was doing the same thing.

_Not an ally_.

"I can't do that, captain," he said, gritting his teeth. "Last year, I saw what could happen if evil men took over Seireitei; the things Aizen could do to ordinary humans to get at those of us who fought against him. Caro is no better then Aizen. The best way to defend my family, and all humans... is to fight those evil men before they ever get close to the World of the Living."

The captain 's eyes narrowed.

"Fine."

Something slammed into Charles with the force of a train, flinging him backwards. Midair, he flipped gravity backwards and his momentum, and _only_ his momentum, abruptly slowed. His attacker, having been pushing so intensely against his Zanpakuto, flipped over him and smashed into the building Charles had been about to hit, sending a cloud of dust and shards of rock billowing into the air.

_Chains_.

He swung an end of chain around the hilt of his Zanpakuto even as he fell backwards down the street, past the battling evil-scientists and their respective minions.

Perceptive vanished. He twisted gravity around himself, slowly at first but with increasing force and speed. His white coat flared out around him and his chains spun violently, whipping up the stone-dust that had settled since the first clash. Charles closed his eyes – they were useless in this storm anyway – and followed the captain by his reiatsu.

_He's hesitating_.

One more rotation, then Charles snapped gravity to a point far beyond the captain. His steel hurricane collapsed, drawn downward (or what Charles saw as down) at the captain, curving around him with what was left of that violent spin. Reiatsu, some of it his and some it someone else's, swirled around them with increasing fury.

Suddenly, the air stilled, leaving dust hanging in the air as if frozen there. Charles' chains hit something and whipped around it, then whatever it was moved. Charles felt them tug at his belt, the movement strong and confident, and with a sudden sense of vulnerability he detached the ensnared chains and pulled himself down. Slamming flat on the street, he felt the air vibrate as something sliced wickedly over his head.

The hanging dust was blown aside by a flare of reiatsu, and Charles looked up. The captain stood in the air over him, glowing with a sea-green light. His haori was abandoned, flying off in the blast of wind, leaving his muscular arms (crisscrossed with scars and black markings) bare. His Zanpakuto was gone, and in its place he carried two massive scythes, each wrapped in and connected by chains. Not Charles', though his did hang limply from the blade of one, but black, barbed chains that cut into the captain's hands even as he held them.

"You've provoked him now," warned the captain, his eyes blazing. "My Zanpakuto does not like having his title challenged."

Dread crashed into Charles as suddenly as a spike of reiatsu. It occurred to him that, perhaps, he had let himself underestimate the Shinigami.

"Bankai, Hayate _Kinzokushini_."


	79. Chapter Forty-Four

Chapter Forty-Four

"Come at me, Kurosaki! If you don't, I'm going to go find Caro and sharpen my fangs on his spine!"

Edward roared his challenge, feet planted firmly on the slanted shingle roof of a watchtower. He had thrown off his disguise and stood proudly in Arrancar-white, Zanpakuto already drawn but unreleased, waiting for his opponent to appear.

"Kurosaki Ichigo! Come out and face me. You won last time, but I'm back again and now _you_ are on the losing side."

Erina clung to the side of the tower, one hand clasping a windowframe, the other holding her Zanpakuto. Caro's lesser minions swarmed below, Hollows and Rukongai spirits clawing at the walls in an attempt to get at them. Many lay on the ground groaning or unconscious, knocked from the walls by Erina before they could reach Edward.

"This is a bad idea," she called up the tower again, but Edward merely grinned, a wild light shining in his eyes.

"I know you're out there, Kurosaki! You _owe_ me!"

The air changed. Erina and Edward moved as one, jumping back away from the tower a heartbeat before a slash of energy slammed into it, blowing the building apart and obliterating the minions crowded around the base.

Edward tensed, teeth bared in a feral grin, and Erina groaned in dismay.

Kurosaki-taichou had finally reached them. He swung his Zanpakuto up to rest casually on his shoulder, but his expression was grim, equal parts angry and disappointed.

"Big mistake, Nakamaru."

Edward shrugged one shoulder, rolling his neck. "Nope, I'm not Edward for this fight, Kurosaki. I finally have the chance to fight you again all out, and I'm making the most of it."

Ichigo glanced at Erina, almost seeming to suggest she should step in to stop them, but she dared not move. With a slight sigh, the Fourteenth Division captain finally cracked – he smiled, but it was a dangerous smile.

"You asked for it, Grimmjow. You really want to fight... let's fight!"

The street exploded.

Erina was flung backwards by the blast, smashing through a warehouse to lie there in the crater of her landing, groaning. She did not hear her companion shout his release, but neither did he; the roar of a second _Getsugatensho_ overwhelmed all other sound. Erina tried to rise, but the slightest movement sent dagger-like pain through her chest. Her head pounded. As the world began to fade into blackness, her last thought was,

_You're an idiot, Edward. Don't... die._

_._

He dropped to all fours, Kagehyo crawling across his skin as sleek black fur and tearing through his fingers with gleaming long claws. This time, he let the feline instinct take over completely, empowering the parts of his personality that belonged to another life and suppressing the ones that human life had instilled in him.

Kurosaki was right in front of him, and it was all too easy to black out the last decade or two and start right back where they had left off last time. His release felt more energized then it had ever been, and he lunged forward quick as thought, claws fully extended and teeth parted, ready to bite. A new challenge rumbled through his chest and vibrated in his throat, wordless but unmistakable.

He caught Kurosaki's blade in his long, furred fingers, the blade digging into his palm but not yet drawing blood. He wrenched the weapon down, whirling around it like a vertical pole-dancer, and slammed his heel down towards Kurosaki's head.

The captain raised his free arm, deflecting the attack sideways with one backhanded swipe. Kagehyo's hand tightened around the sword even as he forced it towards the ground, using it, and Kurosaki's own unyielding grip, to steady himself. He planted one foot on the blade and lunged forward, his claws aimed for the eyes.

Blue light flickered in his opponent's eyes. He lurched forward as his footing suddenly gave way, the sword he had been braced against falling through empty air, and Kurosaki's hands closed on either side of Kagehyo's, stopping the claws dead inches from his face.

For a moment, they were both still, caught in the familiarity of the moment. Then Kagehyo bared his teeth and lunged, grabbing at one of Kurosaki's arms with his free hand and raising both pawed-feet, claws extended, to tear at his chest, his legs, anything they could reach. Sharp feline teeth snapped next to Kurosaki's ear as the captain jerked backwards in surprise, caught off guard by the feral assault.

_I trained with kittens, Kurosaki!_ Kagehyo yowled, gleefully sinking his razor-sharp fangs into his opponent's trapped hand. _Your fingers will never be safe again._

His taunt fell on deaf ears. Kurosaki leapt back, flinging Kagehyo away with a spray of blood from his mangled hand. The black cat landed in the air on all fours, tail lashing and fur puffed up in excitement. Kurosaki's eyes flickered between him and his dropped Zanpakuto, then dove for the ground. Kagehyo followed suit almost at once, only a heartbeat's difference between them.

The Shinigami was faster.

Kurosaki snatched his Zanpakuto off the ground and whirled, his robes throwing up a cloud of dust as they spun around him. Kagehyo saw a streak, then a blade filled his vision a moment before he hit the ground. The blade seemed to shrink even as it tore into his cheek, the steely metal turning black before slashing through his furry ear.

He hit the ground and jumped away with a hiss of pain, clapping a hand to the bleeding scratch. Kurosaki slashed through the storm of energy and powdered stone, his captain haori gone, replaced by the sleek robes of his bankai. They matched, now. Black against black.

Kagehyo tensed. The fur of this release protected him from a lot, but he wasn't a pure Hollow anymore. His powers were different, his strengths and weaknesses adjusted.

That bankai... it was designed to kill.

He pulled his hand away from his cheek and glanced at the dark blood. He only took his eyes off his opponent for a moment, but his mind knew it was a mistake before his body had the time to react.

Air blasted away as Kurosaki flashed forward, his black Zanpakuto stabbing right at Kagehyo's chest. It struck, but Kagehyo launched himself backwards just in time and hit the ground hard, letting the blade skim across his skin rather then skewer him through the ribs. He rolled to get his feet back under him and launched himself up into the air, his heart pounding beneath the blazing line of blood.

_Oh, come **on**,_ some small, human part of him grumbled. _I didn't need a scar there in this life, too._

The rest of him, the part fully embracing Kagehyo, focused on Kurosaki. Playing defensively irked him, but for the time being it was all he dared do. Kurosaki was fast, faster then any of the other members of the Fourteenth Division. There was no one he could have trained with to practice against their captain's speed... no one but the captain himself.

_If we survive this and everything goes back to normal, I am going to fight you _every week_, Kurosaki. I should not feel slow._

He stayed on his toes, dodging or jumping away from Kurosaki's attacks as he waited for an opening. He could not keep up with them all, though. Too many times the black bankai bit into his forearm when he was forced to block an attack at the last second. His fur became stained with his own blood, a feeling that made the electric-blue fur of his spine stand straight on end from distaste and anger.

_Ugh, disgusting_.

His temper snapped. He lunged forward again, but Kurosaki vanished right before his clawtips. A blade slashed across his back, shallow but not shallow enough. He yowled and spun, but Kurosaki was too fast. He almost seemed to be seeing multiples as the captain circled, eyeing Kagehyo with that same scowling confidence that he'd worn since the start of their fight.

He straightened, breathing hard. He raised one hand and, after the briefest hesitations, licked the back of it to rub the blood off his cheek. His blue eyes followed the captain as best he could, but he realized that he simply _could not_ keep up anymore.

_Wait for him to come to you. Look vulnerable. Exposed. Then __**pounce**__!_

There.

Kagehyo's claws screeched against the blade as he snapped both hands up just in time. He could not stop it. He tilted his head and leaned to one side, the blade's momentum slowed just enough for him to dodge the strike. Then, his bloody claws tight around the sword, he roared and slammed forward. His forehead connected satisfyingly with Kurosaki's nose, then his teeth found flesh.

So close together were they in that moment, he could not miss the flash of yellow that shot through Kurosaki's glowing eyes. A moment later, he felt himself knocked backwards, flying through the air so fast the air whistled in his fur.

He hit the ground hard. For a moment he lay there, forgetting to breathe, feeling like there mustn't be a single bone left unbroken by that fall. Then air whooshed past his face and the tip of a sword touched his throat.

"The days when you could defeat me are over, Grimmjow."

The blade turned, the sharp edge now pressing upwards into the soft skin beneath his chin.

"You lose."

...

The woman claiming to be Kurosaki Ryohime hesitated.

Urai looked back at her, standing in the street with her head tilted slight and her eyes on the sky. Her brow crinkled in a concerned scowl, and for a moment she tensed as if about to run off in the opposite direction.

Then, a moment after Urai noticed her sudden stop, her grim companion did, too.

He didn't even say anything. For a split second he flared his reiatsu, making the air sharp and taste of burning metal, then the sense was gone as he flash-stepped around a corner. The woman took the hint; she tore herself away from whatever had made her pause and followed, Urai turning to run beside her as she passed him.

"What did you sense?" he asked between breaths. She kept her gaze locked ahead of them and did not reply for a long moment.

"Everyone," she said finally. "People I have to ignore, or I won't be able to concentrate. Caro comes first."

Urai fell silent. He _knew_ what was threatening to distract his orange-haired ghost this time, if she was who she said she was. He could sense the fight, too, the captain-level energy blazing through Seireitei. But he needed her now.

"I will need to get close. If he sees me... if our eyes meet... it will be the end."

The distant fight had drawn the last line of defence, the last captain in their way, away from the First Division barracks, but it would be a short-lived distraction. Literally.

"Don't worry about that. I will make sure he never notices you."

If he and his ghosts hesitated for too long, the sacrifices of everyone trying desperately to keep captains at bay would be wasted.

And they were so close, now.

_Just a little longer, mina..._


	80. Chapter Forty-Five

Chapter Forty-Five

"How did you like those chickens?" Steve taunted even as he jumped back, away from the raging Hollow monstrosity trying to tear his spine out. Kurotsuchi had given the beast _very_ specific orders.

The disgraced Shinigami watched from a safe distance, his thin lips stretched pale across his teeth in a wicked smile. His golden eyes gleamed in vicious anticipation.

"Chickens?" he replied snidely, though Steve had trouble hearing him over the nonsense going on across the street. "I don't recall ever encountering any chickens. They must not have been very interesting."

Steve pressed his own lips together in frustration and thrust out both hands to grab the Hollow in his Ningyozukai's puppet-strings. The thing strained and roared in anger at the invisible bonds, but he had kept the _first _experimental Hollow still with only one hand; he could keep this one down with both.

"Hiding behind your pets, _again_," he said, changing verbal tactics as he put on his best sneer. He really had not had a lot of practice sneering recently... when this was over, it would have to go in his training regimen. "Too scared to meet me face to face, Kurotsuchi? Rival to rival, scientist to scientist. I owe you a hundred thousand years of _torment_."

Kurotsuchi chuckled, high and thin. "Rival? Scientist? Who are you, exactly? Because I remember you like I remember your 'chickens'."

Irritated at being ignored, the Hollow screamed and began charging a blood-red Cero. Steve let it, then yanked the creature around just before it was released so the _cero_ blasted towards Kurotsuchi. The Shinigami flickered out of range, still smiling in an infuriatingly self-satisfied way.

"Did you really think I'd design slaves who could kill me? And the way you puppet them around... so clumsy." He clicked his tongue against his teeth. "I was curious about how Arrancar powers work with human limitations – it seemed an interesting research subject – but at this point it looks like I'm already beyond your capabilities simply by hand-selecting and enhancing Hollows."

Steve ground his teeth together, but there was nothing he could do from this distance to slash that smug face into ribbons. His powers were not designed for two-on-one at _his_ disadvantage; he needed backup.

_Yylfordt!_

But, no, his one-time brother was busy, trying to keep a random lieutenant away from their Quincy. Dikayumi's partner was gone, distracted by some other battle elsewhere. The moment enemies showed up, his whole partner-system had just been tossed out the window, and now here he was with _two_ opponents and no way to fight back.

He let out a sharp breath between his gritted teeth, frustration growing by the second.

"Thanks a lot, _team_."

.

Nnoitra strained at his leash, screaming to be given control.

"_This is a captain, you idiot human! You are going to get us both killed, but I can take him!"_

"No, you can't," hissed Charles to the voice in his head, leaping with a helpful tug of backwards-gravity away from the spinning whirlwind of death. "We both know you would leap right into that blade-storm, and _now_ you're distracting me. Just shut up for a minute."

The captain pushed forward, slamming his scythe down a hairsbreadth from Charles' foot as the latter flung himself to the side. Even with gravity itself at Charles's disposal, it was becoming increasingly difficult to avoid his opponent's attacks, much less strike back.

"Are you sure we can't talk about this?" he called, but the howl of wind drowned out his voice almost immediately. The clouds of smoke that had hung over Seireitei since the fighting began in earnest were beginning to funnel, and the dust and bright, but brief, sparks of burning wood from current fights whipped in tight, dramatic circles around Charles and his opponent. The chains he had practiced with and incorporated into his fighting style were next-to-useless, the force of the growing hurricane easily overpowering gravity in regards to the thin metal links.

_I want a bankai,_ he grumbled to himself, flinching as sharp bits of debris slashed across his cheek. Nnoitra laughed at him, but Charles was beyond caring.

Keeping track of his companions' reiatsu was the only way to keep his bearings in the chaos. It was hard, trying to sense anything other then the raging death-scythe of a bankai right on top of him, but he could sense Herald and, to a lesser extend, Steve. The Fourteenth Division's lieutenants were in battles of their own, but Steve's was almost buried under some other enemy reiatsu Charles could not place. Dikayumi, Yylfordt, and Kitsune... if they were even still in the area, they were in no position to help him. This captain was beyond any of them.

An idea struck him, then a scythe did. The scythe hit harder.

His wrist snapped as he tried to block the blow, his Zanpakuto flying out of his grasp almost before he realized what had happened. He smacked into the ground and immediately rolled to try and avoid an inevitable follow-up, wheezing for breath through gritted teeth.

An eight-foot scythe blade slammed into the ground hard enough to shake the street, jarring Charles' bruised ribs. He grabbed gravity and desperately yanked it sideways, pouring two, three, times as much strength into the pull. His robes shredded beneath him as he fell along the pavement, then he pushed off and twisted in midair. The debris thinned and he cast a frantic glance around him.

_There!_

There was no subtlety to his control now. His stomach lurched as he yanked gravity around again, putting as much energy as he could into the fall. The world blurred, but he used the combatants' reiatsu as his compass.

_Sorry, Steve, I'm crashing your fight._

He slammed straight into the monstrous Hollow, feet first. The force of his sideways fall knocked the creature off its feet and sent Steve, still latched onto the Hollow with Ningyozukai, stumbling sideways.

"Finally!" Steve called impatiently, but Charles didn't spare the moment of concentration to reply. The captain was right on his heels, the chains of his _bankai_ clattering audibly within the wind and storm.

He ducked behind the barely-restrained Hollow, his eyes flashing from the captain to Kurotsuchi Mayuri, then back again. The Hollow tried to slash at him but only managed a few inches of movement; Steve had steadied himself and regained control.

"Kill the Hollow!" Steve screamed. "Then we can take the others!"

_No, we can't._

The captain's scythes swung in from either side, trying to catch Charles between them. Charles dropped and scurried backwards, getting the Hollow between himself and his opponent. This time, he did spare a glance for Kurotsuchi. The former-captain was watching now, his golden eyes narrow with malicious disdain.

_Don't you dare_, his expression said, but Charles was the only one watching him. Steve's eyes were fixed on the air-splitting _bankai_ as both scythes sliced right through the Hollow, one a few inches above the other.

"Captain..." warned Kurotsuchi darkly. "That was _mine_."

The captain's dark eyes fixed on him for a moment, and the look was murderous. "Should have stayed banished, Kurotsuchi. Get out of my way."

Charles took advantage of the momentary lapse of focus to flee to Steve's side. He glanced around, hoping to see other allies as he struggled to catch his breath, but the whirling clouds of dust and debris had followed him here.

"Where is Dikayumi?"

Steve rolled his eyes, flexing his fingers as though wrestling with the Hollow had made them stiff. "That was your job, remember? _I_ have been busy."

Charles took another pointed look around. "So... where is Yylfordt?"

"Touche."

"Can you help me-"

There was no time for more discussion. The metallic sliding of chains against the ground betrayed his approach, but Charles still had only a split second to jump away before two huge blades smashed into the ground where he had once been standing. Steve, a heartbeat slower, staggered back with his long robes tearing at the edge where he had gotten caught, but the captain barely looked at him before charging back after Charles.

"I'll help as soon as I've taken care of Kurotsuchi!" called Steve, but even as he spoke the roar of wind overwhelmed his voice. Whatever Charles screamed back in response to that promise was drowned out completely.

With a shrug, Steve returned his gaze to Kurotsuchi. The evil scientist had crouched over his unequally-trisected experiment, both hands tucked into his sleeves, hmming to himself. He was paying so little attention Steve almost felt it would be cheap to take advantage of the golden opportunity.

The thought pleased him. A smile crept across his lips as he threw out both hands like a twisted conductor, each finger trained on his rival.

"You are mine."

Kurotsuchi glanced up briefly, unimpressed.

"After using the same power on Primary, essentially _handing_ me the blueprints on your release, did you really expect that to work?"

Steve tried anyway, twitching his strings just in case. Kurotsuchi did not so much as flinch.

"Maybe not," Steve admitted, but his smile did not fade. "In fact, I've been working on something of my own for just such an occasion... something _no one_ has ever even heard of before. Lucky you!"

He lowered his hands but not the theatrics, holding them out at his sides almost like some welcoming statue. Kurotsuchi rose from the chopped-up remnants of his personal monster and reached for his Zanpakuto.

"Ningyozukai..." Steve began, slowly and clearly, gathering his release back into his core. Kurotsuchi drew his Zanpakuto, a soulless piece of metal, and pulled his other hand out of his sleeve bristling with needles, one clutched between each knuckle.

But then, Steve hesitated, his Zanpakuto's combat name hovering on his lips. Time seemed to slow down.

Somewhere out there, everyone was fighting someone. His allies were all taking care of themselves for now - Charles certainly had everything under control. He had lost track of Yylfordt, but his once-brother was probably fine. He was fighting some nameless lieutenant with Dikayumi _and_ probably Kitsune for backup. He'd be alright.

Regardless, something was clutching at his chest. Something heavy, with sharp claws. He _knew_ his brother was in danger.

_Edward_.

He could almost see Ningyozukai standing between him and Kurotsuchi, his knee-length braid of violently pink hair unmoved in the tempest-level winds. The spirit of his sword said nothing, but held out his long, claw-like hands in a mirror of Steve's. His gesture, though, was not for theatrical purpose. With one hand, he indicated Kurotsuchi Mayuri, their killer. With the other, he pointed out into Seireitei. Towards where Steve _knew_ his brother was fighting for his life.

_"He can take care of himself,_" Steve whispered. Ningyozukai smiled; a wicked, eager smile.

_**"Then say my fighting name, Master."**_

An image of Edward on the ground flickered through Steve's mind. It did not even have any blood, just Edward, still and limp. He took a breath and the slowness vanished. Kurotsuchi stepped closer, his eyes gleaming gold.

Steve's hands fell to his sides.

"Sorry, Mayuri," he muttered bitterly, casting one more hateful glance at the man. "Someone else will have to kill you."

And he whirled around, flickering away as he ran as fast as he could towards his brother's battle.


	81. Chapter Forty-Six: Close to Me

Chapter Forty-Six

The tip of Kurosaki's blade nicked Kagehyo's throat, but it went no further. The black cat's gaze traveled up the length of the sword to the face of his former captain, eyes widened in shock.

Then, they both turned their heads to find the intruder.

He stood in the air, hands outstretched, every muscle tensed as he struggled to control the captain. Kagehyo's blue eyes dilated in astonishment as his human brother slowly, agonizingly, forced Kurosaki Taichou to pull back his Zanpakuto.

Kurosaki stared at his own hand as if it was infested with some alien insect. The muscles in his neck twitched, his upper lip began pulling back in a snarl, as Steve's strings tried to drag him backwards, away from Kagehyo.

No, away from _Edward_. The synchronicity between lives fell away even as he watched his little brother overwhelming Kurosaki Taichou, his battle fur melting away along with his feline thoughts.

"Are you... alright?" asked Steve, sweat beginning to trickle down his forehead. He didn't dare take his eyes off Kurosaki, not even to blink, as if that might be enough to make him lose control.

Edward ached all over without the shielding distraction of his release, but he still forced himself up enough to scramble away from his captain. Steve's lack of confidence did not instill much in him.

"Barely, but you're just in time," he croaked back, then collapsed on the ground with a groan. "Erina! Help, please?"

A harsh breath broke the discouraging silence that followed his call. Kurosaki had managed, against Steve's strings, to turn halfway to face him, his eyes aglow with growing fury.

"Let... me... go," he ordered, his voice low and dark with warning. "I have a _job_ to do."

Steve gritted his teeth, shaking his pale hair out of his face. "If you were in your right mind, captain... you would be helping us. Just... stop fighting."

"My _mind_ is fine!" snapped Kurosaki. "You guys are the ones who forced this fight."

"Yes, because Caro is _evil_. You know that, you just refuse to believe it because Caro _told you not to_. That doesn't exactly scream 'good guy', now, does it?" An idea popped into his head, pretty desperate, but he didn't hesitate to second-guess it. "What would your _daughter_ think of you?"

Kurosaki did not reply. He cracked his neck to one side, straining with every muscle against the invisible, barely-existent strings that held him still. Steve, already as tense as his thin frame could be, began sliding forward, inch by inch. His eyes widened in horror and pain as a thin trail of blood welled up along the back of his dominant hand, a paper-thin cut from within as his own carefully-controlled spiritual energy was stretched too far and began to tear.

"Edward..." he began, but got no further.

Kurosaki snapped the strings. They did not truly exist, but he snapped them, and the whiplash slashed razor-thin lines across Steve's face and robes. He stumbled back with a cry, raising one hand to try and slow his enemy down with whatever he had left, and the other to cup his stinging right eye.

The captain wasn't there anymore. He was next to Steve, and in that moment his pale hand snapped up to catch Steve's raised arm.

"_No _one controls me," he snarled in Steve's ear, and there was something very wrong with his voice. His fingers, already like a vice, tightened, his nails digging into Steve's narrow wrist.

"K-Kurosaki Tai-" Steve gasped in pain, turning to try and appeal to what was left of his captain's self-control one more time, but his words died in his throat. It wasn't Kurosaki Taichou staring back at him. Yellow eyes, more maniacal then even Kurotsuchi's, stared hungrily into his own.

"Hollow," squeaked Steve, and his opponent grinned. A crack seemed to fill the air and Steve screamed in pain, his wrist crushed in the Hollowfied Shinigami's iron-grip.

"Hah!"

_I thought Ryohime fixed that problem last year_, Steve thought desperately as he wrenched his wrist out of the Hollow's grip. The pale fingers had relaxed just slightly after the crack, just enough for Steve to jump away. _But, no, he was white that time. They even called him that. What is the Hollow called when it _is_ the captain?_

Pain made him ramble, even when there was no one to ramble to but himself. Ningyozukai had fallen silent and sullen, stubbornly refusing to be interested in this fight. He held memories Steve felt should be helpful, but (Steve thought as he barely dodged a kick that would have shattered ribs) the best place to find a strategy against Shiro the Hollow was their fight during the Aizen Incident. Ryohime had relayed the story before, but (as he clutched his broken wrist to his chest and glanced around frantically for some form of backup) he could not seem to come up with any relevant information out of it.

"Why are you fighting me?" he called, desperately trying to stall for time. "Do _you_ serve Caro, too?"

The Hollow laughed at him. It was there one moment and gone the next, and cold fingers closed on the back of Steve's neck before the echoes of laughter had time to change position.

"I serve me," the twisted voice replied, and then Steve slammed into the ground. The fall barely registered, it happened so quickly. The Hollow's breath was right in his ear, harsh and uneven. "You, Caro, everyone, trying to jerk around our thoughts. Nicely done, you broke him. Now you get **me**."

He picked Steve up and slammed him face-first into the nearest wall, then his foot came out of nowhere. In that one safe corner of Steve's brain that never got distracted by pain, he realized that his body was hurtling through space roughly in the direction of his injured brother, but there was nothing to act on. He hit the ground and skidded, tumbling head over heels right into another miraculously-standing wall.

The stone collapsed around him, adding filthy cuts and ugly red bruising to the collection of injuries this battle had given him.

_I hate this_, his functioning brain complained while the rest of it screamed. _I am a _ranged_ fighter, a combat controller. This hand-to-hand nonsense is Edward's job._

He pushed himself up on his good hand, though his arm trembled at the effort. He looked and found Edward on his hands and knees not far away, his pale blue eyes wide and horrified. He had his Zanpakuto in one hand, but Steve could tell just by the feel of his erratic reiatsu that his brother's release was far from viable. Any adrenaline Edward's feral side had received from the idea of fighting their own captain, an admittedly exciting notion under more optimistic circumstances, was gone.

The Hollow charged. They only had a moment. There were no other options.

"Ningyozukai Daisenshi!"

His white robes began to shimmer. His spiritual energy flickered across the surface like holographic light. Steve raised his hands, a shimmering blade of pure energy coalescing before his eyes-

Shiro struck. The black bankai flashed, and blood sprayed into the air.

Edward screamed.


	82. Chapter Forty-Seven: Annihilate

Chapter Forty-Seven

Air turned to ash and choked him. The world stopped spinning and all sense of balance disappeared. The sun vanished. Seireitei went dark.

Edward froze where he had been crouched, halfway to his feet and sword in hand, to go to his brother's aid. His eyes were fixed, unmoving. His voice had broken from the scream, but even if it had not, there was no breath in his lungs left to speak.

The Hollow seemed to move in slow motion as he whipped his sword to one side, sending Steve's blood splattering across the ground. The moment the blade pulled free, Steve slumped (so slowly!) to the ground, his half-released battle form flickering weakly before fading away.

"No..."

It was barely a croak; Edward's throat felt like it had multiple knives lodged inside it. He gasped, his eyes watering from the sharp pain, and tried again.

"No!"

The Hollow's yellow eyes turned to fix on him. Edward saw the hilt begin to slip through his fingers, which then closed around the chain. His wrist begin to flick.

Edward tensed, his exhaustion forgotten. His foot dug into the ground, then he leapt forward, ducked under the Hollow's arm and slid to Steve's side. The enemy's chain clinked, but he didn't care. He pushed his arms beneath his fallen brother and lifted, then jumped forward again, not a thought spared for the enemy.

They landed on the other side of a wrecked street, in the ruin of some unimportant building. Edward, his heart pounding in his chest, laid Steve down and began peeling blood-stained fabric away from the wound with trembling hands.

It had been an upward slice from hip to opposing shoulder. Edward cast around for something to stem the blood, then turned his head and used his teeth to start a tear in his _kosodo _at the shoulder.

"Stop shaking," he muttered to his fingers as he tried to rip the sleeve free, but even his voice had begun trembling now. With a frustrated snarl he tore off the whole shirt and ripped in half, then bent to press the black cloth to Steve's wound.

"It's gonna be fine," he promised in his hoarse, shaking voice, even as his fingers became covered in blood. "We'll just... hold out until Erina finds us, she's somewhere around here. Don't worry."

There was no response. Edward didn't blame his brother for saving his energy; the mere sight of the injury made _him_ feel weak and nauseous. Perhaps it was the Arrancar inside him, remembering the worst injuries from his own battles. Perhaps it was simple sympathetic pain. Edward forced himself to focus on the deep slash, one hand pressed down as firmly as he could to try and stop the bleeding while he fumbled with the other to get the half of his _kosodo _he had dropped in his haste_. _

"There's too much blood," he managed, layering the dry cloth on top of the wet one. "Give me some tips, here, Steve; you have to know at least a little about this stuff. How do I stop the bleeding?"

Still no response. Edward's fingers curled into fists, bunching the blood-soaked cloth between them. The knives in his throat jammed down further, but he swallowed and forced himself to look up, to meet his brother's gaze.

Steve's glasses were gone, shattered and fallen during the fight. His unobscured eyes were dull. They stared past Edward, unseeing, and light seemed incapable of penetrating them.

Edward fell back on his heels. His own eyes glazed, becoming as unfocused as Steve's.

The knives slipped all the way down and buried themselves in his heart. His frantic thoughts stilled, then collected into one awful realization.

_My brother is dead._

Nothing came after that. There was no _next thought_, no '_and_', '_but_', or _'unless'._

_My brother is dead._

The sun _was_ gone. Black clouds had swept in from somewhere, denser even then the smoke that had been hanging over Seireitei.

Now, he knew the clouds. They were his.

.

The air crackled with static, clinging to robes and flashing with tiny sparks in the darkness. Shiro cracked his neck again, enjoying the feeling of bones sliding against one another. Ichigo hated the sensation. That made it all the more enjoyable.

Lightning flashed, high and distant. Shiro flinched, expecting rain, but the air stayed dry. He considered the clouds, then shrugged their mysterious appearance off. There were so many people fighting, it could be any number of things.

_Perhaps the midget who keeps stealing my name is getting into a fight_, he mused, and a wicked grin split Ichigo's hijacked lips. He tensed to rush off and find the white-haired Captain, the sudden urge to have a battle for the title overwhelming any other half-considered ideas.

The electricity in the air intensified. Shiro tasted metal. There was no pause for consideration; his instincts screamed and he moved, jumping up into the air to put distance between himself and... something.

Lightning struck a stone's throw away, a blinding spear of pure murderous power that sent jagged blue lines crackling outward in every direction. Remnants of the flash stuck around, flickering and flashing over the ground like demented pixies.

A dark figure rose from the glowing crater of the lightning strike, a jet black monster streaked with blue. The fierce yet playful kitty cat was gone.

Lightning struck again, but this time it was alive.

The air burned around them. Shiro caught the claws against Zangetsu's blade, but the heat of their bright, glowing tips seared against his skin. He laughed and jumped sideways, slashing Zangetsu down the length of his opponent's arm, but the monster cat barely noticed. He whirled on his clawed toes, the long fur of this new release crackling with static electricity, and launched himself into the air. Shiro leapt back to avoid the drop attack when a sudden jolt caught him, freezing his muscles and stopping him midair.

_"Shut up, Zangetsu."_ he growled, and, even as the cat hit, tore Ichigo's last restraints away.

.

Lightning flooded through his veins, lit his blood on fire. He couldn't contain it; every moment traces of his overwhelming rage burst out of his skin and snapped at the air. He threw back his head, his long ears laid back flat against his skull, and let out a bone-chilling yowl.

He _was_ the lightning, and the lightning was fury.

His claws burst into light and he stabbed forward, sending jagged darts hurling towards his foe. The white one was done pretending; he roared back wordlessly, the sound reverberating through his half-formed mask.

They clashed like wild animals, spitting and snarling as they tore the landscape apart. The sword began to hit harder and harder, not cutting through his stormy fur but cracking bone and bruising muscle. The pain only fed the storm, but the same was true for his enemy, as well. His claws gouged a burning trail down the white one's face, shattering the mask and gouging at the yellow eye beneath, but by their next clash regeneration had undone the damage.

The white one escalated quickly, no sense of holding back. He charged a dark cero between his fingers and sent it ripping across the ruined city, but the cat, quick as light, leaned away from it. _Too slow_. He twisted his right hand over his left, fingers clawed together, and his own cero glowed blue between his palms. It crackled and leapt from his hand, darting here and there before striking like a hyperactive insect. The white one tried to catch it bare-handed.

The cat had leapt forward at the same moment as his cero, fangs bared. He kicked the sword out of the white one's grasp - his Cero struck - and branching lines of burns spread out from the blackened stump of an arm that had tried to take it. The Hollow whirled, tail lashing, but the cat leapt over it and dug into his enemy's back, extending his lightning claws into the Hollowfying skin.

_Rip_.

The white hollow screamed. His entire body, both of their bodies, stiffened as electricity raced through them.

_Burn._

He charged a cero between his palms, claws still dug deeply into his opponent's flesh. The sword flew to his enemy's hand. It flashed as he turned it over and thrust backwards, beneath the cat's arm, into the cat's chest; the cat poured that pain into the cero, too. One thought filled him as he let the lightning free.

_Destroy_.

.

He picked up the Zanpakuto, ignoring the rattling breath of the blackened thing left trying to grasp it with a hand of ash. The sword was beautiful, black and sleek and covered in his brother's blood.

_Destroy._

.

He stood in the center of the obliterated street, glaring around at the city that had cost his brother his life.

_Destroy._

.

Thunder cracked in the lightning-king's wake. There was nothing left but the storm.


	83. Chapter Forty-Seven: Part 2

Chapter Forty-Seven: Part 2

...

Thunder cracked in the lightning-king's wake. There was nothing left but the storm.

.

.

.

Arrarrico Caro stood on the balcony, basking in the glow from the city.

This was the end.

Shinigami died, and Hollows would take over. It was a beautiful arrangement. All the old machinations and over-complicated plans paled in comparison to the plain, effective use of brute force, an army against an army, no limitations between them.

"You know, I'm glad things didn't work out as I planned," he said conversationally. "I feel like there are important lessons I needed to learn here, ones I just would not have learned if things had gone as expected."

He got no response. The traitor Shinigami behind him lay in a pool of his own blood – dead or dying, Caro did not care which – and was certainly not in any position to reply even if he wanted to.

Caro rolled his shoulders, the deep but narrow hole where the Shinigami's ridiculous quill had stabbed into his back stinging sharply. Even that made him smile. Another lesson that could only be learned through pain. Next time a Shinigami walked into the room, no matter if it was one of his or not, they would die.

He shifted, adjusting his weight from one foot to the other. The air felt different. No one was looking, so he allowed himself to lick the air, tasting it like he would have long ago in Hueco Mundo. It was subtle, as was the pressure beginning to press down on his shoulders, but distinct. Like flowers, and rain.

_Someone is coming_. He would have said it aloud, but somehow he felt he couldn't.

He turned away from the burning city to face his door. There was someone coming.

It occurred to him suddenly that, perhaps, he should have kept a captain-level minion at his side. Not that he needed bodyguards, but... just as a precaution.

_No, that is silly. There is no one in this world I cannot protect myself from._

He did not like this reiatsu. He knew it, but he also knew it could not be here. It must be someone else.

But why, then, were the hairs on his arms reacting as if it was the same reiatsu? There was no one alive who could raise his hackles, so to speak... no one.

He heard footsteps in the hall outside. Soft, confident steps, quiet but not stealthy. His fingers tightened around the haft of his staff as a man, clad in white, came to walk through his doorway.

The smile was the same. Caro had never forgotten that look of supreme confidence, the smile that had made him put off his plans for decades. Only this time, their positions were reversed. This time Caro was the one standing like a king among the conquered, and it was Aizen Sousuke who came to talk.


	84. Chapter Forty-Eight

Chapter Forty-Eight

Aizen met his gaze unflinching, still smiling as if he was in complete control of the situation. There was no mystical connection between Caro and those effected by his hypnosis, no way for him to tell who had and had not been successfully claimed by his eyes, but he knew without a doubt that the Shinigami before him was unmoved.

_Well, that answers one old question._ _So... let's talk._

"I heard you were dead," he said, knowing he should try not to antagonize the one Shinigami who could _somehow_ resist his release, but it was hard to fake neutrality. "My men saw the crater."

"I can understand why that might be confusing to those with weaker senses," replied Aizen, a note of condescension just barely audible beneath an otherwise polite tone. "It is a very impressive grave, if I may say so myself."

Caro smiled coldly. "Considering how you got yourself captured all those years ago, it wasn't a baseless assumption for my soldiers to make."

"And yet, here I am."

Caro shrugged, turning. He took a few steps to one side, running one hand along the top of the First Captain's desk. "And yet, here _I_ am," he replied. "You had your chance, Aizen. I gave you _more_ then enough time, waiting until even your last backup plan seemed to fail."

Aizen's smile never wavered. His gaze stayed fixed on Caro, as if the Arrancar was an especially interesting insect running around beneath his microscope. "Oh, your patience is impressive. One might wonder if you were, perhaps, not altogether eager to go to war after all, considering how long it took you to take action."

His tone irritated Caro. He turned and paced back the other way, still trailing his fingers along the edge of the wooden desk. This banter was pointless.

"This is my victory, Aizen. We silently agreed, long ago, not to interfere with one another. It is my turn, now, and you should not be here."

Aizen looked away, turning his attention to the other side of the doorframe. In a pleasant, conversational tone, "I saw your first delegation, you know, the one led by Akama. They proved an interesting source of information before Seireitei set about slaughtering them." He glanced out of the corner of his eye at Caro. "You stole my stuff. Akama and his little friends - those were mine."

"You don't seem to care that much."

Aizen shrugged. "I don't. But they were mine, and you interfered and got them all killed."

"You were dead. Possession ends with existence."

"But I was not dead, clearly. Here we both stand, and, to get to the point, I believe you owe me some minions, Caro. To pay me back for the ones you wasted."

Caro stopped moving. He turned back towards the door and his unwelcome visitor, planting both hands firmly against the desk.

"No."

Aizen's smile did not change, but his eyes turned dangerous. "Oh? Then how are you going to repay me?"

"By sparing you," Caro replied, hissing slightly in his growing anger. "Get out of Seireitei, go back to _The Night_. Go back to skulking in the shadows, manipulating fools, twisting nature to your heart's content. I have claimed Soul Society for the Hollows, and soon there will not be a Shinigami left alive in this entire world. You will join the rest if you insist on staying. Take any of the Shinigami you want to save and go back to Hueco Mundo - that is my offer. Rebuild your empire of rejects in the sand."

The pressure in the room spiked. Caro matched him, pressure against pressure, his scarlet reiatsu rising around him in misty ribbons against Aizen's purple. Aizen turned and their eyes burned into one another, a mutual silent threat neither had ever verbalized.

Then, inexplicably, Aizen relaxed. He looked away, his reiatsu fading back to normal, and chuckled to himself.

"Why not?" he asked lightly, almost gleefully. "Sounds fun, switching roles for a while. I want Kurosaki, and Izuru if he is still alive, and... let's say whatever is left of the Twelfth Division." His gaze fell on the wanna-be Shinigami still lying by the wall. "And that guy. Is he still alive...?"

The shift in tone caught Caro off guard, and hesitantly he lowered his own spiritual pressure to match again. "I don't know. Why would you want him? He's a backstabber."

Aizen walked over to the Twelfth Division officer and crouched down next to him with a critical frown. "I like backstabbers. They make life interesting. So, let my Shinigami free, and I will get out of your hair. Hueco Mundo needs a lot of cleaning, I imagine..."

His tone put Caro on edge, but he hardly knew why. He did not want to fight the former king of Hueco Mundo, but he didn't trust him to just leave, either.

"I cannot undo my gaze," he said, glaring at the Shinigami with undisguised dislike. "If you want minions, drag away the rebels. Those already mine will remain mine."

"That simply will not do."

"Then go alone. _Nothing_ can undo the power of my release."

Aizen did not immediately reply. He stared down at the Twelfth Division traitor for a long moment, then rose slowly, turning to face Caro again.

"You won't win, you know."

Caro's eyes narrowed. The tone had changed yet again, dropping the last traces of arrogant politeness and cheerful confidence. This was a grim tone, and the smile dropped completely.

"Why do you say that?" he asked, tensing. "Do you intend to fight for Seireitei, Aizen Sousuke?"

"No," came the response, prompt and sincere. "I would love to rip those eyeballs of yours out of their sockets, but that is not my part in this fight." His smile came back as a grin, but it was all wrong for the face it was attached to. His teeth gleamed, and his eyes seemed to turn gold. "I am here to pretend, and I am _very_ good at pretending."

_I'm missing something._

A cold feeling crept into Caro's chest, a physical manifestation of the realization that something had slipped past him. He stared at the Shinigami, trying to unravel his words, but he barely had time to register the old sensation of dread before a new voice broke the silence behind him.

Time stopped. Chains appeared around him, crisscrossing his chest and curling around his limbs, tight as a python's stranglehold. The room vanished, leaving him almost alone in a darkened, featureless world.

Almost alone.

He looked over his shoulder at the black-clad spirit who had ensnared him, his breath hissing through his clenched teeth. This was not supposed to happen. This _couldn't_ be happening.

.

She had shimmied across from a window to the balcony while Caro was distracted. Her Zanpakutos were in agreement, their spirits could harmonize. This was it. Their best, and only, chance.

_Bankai,_ she had whispered in thought, not daring to speak aloud for fear of drawing their enemy's attention. _Kodoku Mairamasa!_

...

_The chains were very real, solid and gleaming dully in the light of his enemy's reiatsu. He could barely breath. The links dug into his robes and tore them against the hidden scales of his skin with every, slightest movement. _

_The Zanpakuto stepped closer, his dark expression lit eerily from within. His eyes were fires, lighting his face from inside the dark confines of a low hood. The cloak, black as pitch, vanished into wisps of smoke behind him as it trailed against a featureless ground. _

_Caro could almost see his own eyes reflected in the pale blue fires. Little specks of red and violet, mesmerizing, but once again powerless._

Why_, he wondered, that cold sensation clutching at his insides with ever-tighter fingers. _How do they keep ignoring me?

_"What is your name?"_

_The voice was quiet, and as dead as the void they were standing in. He narrowed his eyes, but the tightening chains slowly tearing through his scales finally loosened his forked tongue._

_"Arrarrico Caro, Lord of the Spirits of Death. And you are?"_

_The spirit's expression did not change, but he did tilt his head just slightly as if confused by the answer._

_"That is one name, but not the right one. You shouldn't be Caro, but you are. Is it exhausting, walking around in your Resurrection as if it was a second skin?"_

_Caro gritted his teeth, digging his fingers under the chains encircling his opposite wrist. "What do you want?" _

_"Your name."_

_"I already gave it to you."_

_Suddenly the spirit was right in front of him. He bent forward, staring into Caro's eyes as if searching for something. _

_"__**Not. That. One.**__"_

_There was a sword in his hand. It slashed down Caro's arm, shattering chains and sending torn cloth stained with black blood fluttering to the ground. _

_Caro choked, his voice failing him. His exposed arm, which should have glittered with reddish, translucent scales, looked pale and cold. _

_"You are a Hollow," hissed the black-cloaked spirit. "Not an Arrancar. Not a Shinigami. Not a..._ Caro_."_

_The sword slashed across his chest, cutting chains and cloth and skin. Caro hissed in pain, but then it got worse._

_He hated the sound of his own scream. His own voice tore away from him, leaving only the raw shriek that ripped at his throat._

_" __Pavorel!" the snake roared. _Don't tell him_, Caro pleaded silently, but it was too late. "Pavorel __C__obre!"_

_The chains shattered, all at once. _


	85. Chapter Forty-Nine

Chapter Forty-Nine

They had prepared no signal - they needed no signal.

The moment he heard roaring, Urai burst into the room, nearly running into the man who appeared to be Aizen. In that moment, Kuronamida screamed at him - her darker counterpart echoing the sentiment word for word - that he should immediately stab the man through the spine, but he caught himself in time.

His ghost (for that was still how Urai thought of him) shed the illusion that had so completely enshrouded him, down to the feel of his reiatsu itself. His tattered robes and crisscrossed scars seemed even more dramatic after wearing Aizen's carefully perfected appearance; a wild thing taking the place of a lord. But he was not the only wild thing in the room.

"Duck!" the ghost demanded, and Urai hesitated a moment too long. A tail thick as a tree trunk smashed into him from the side, knocking him to the ground before obliterating the doorframe behind him, and the entire wall, and every other wall holding the room together.

Dust and debris crashed down as the roof itself collapsed on top of them. A beam that could have crushed his bones landed mere inches from Urai's leg, but the shingles and broken pieces of wood that peppered him were more then painful enough. Groaning, he tried to rise while pushing wreckage away with one hand, his other still clenched around the hilt of his unreleased Zanpakuto.

_**"You are wormssss! Sssskittering, shrieking insectsss... little burrowing mice trying dessssperately to escape my ssssight."**_

The voice filled the air, echoing and hissing and _huge_. He looked up and saw the speaker, and suddenly he questioned whether this had really been the best plan.

A massive snake filled the balcony, the long tail curled beneath it and circling half the room, and its head held high. Each individual scale on the muscular body was some alternating shade of scarlet or purple tipped with white, or fading into pastels, so with every breath the snake's body seemed to shift and shimmer in the same way as Caro's mesmerizing gaze. Almost without meaning to, Urai's eyes were drawn up to the creature's head, the wide hood, the nostril slits, the white tongue flitting in and out, the blood-red eyes with no depth and no subtlety. Just... desire, and hatred.

The snake's tail flicked, smashing what was left of one wall without the serpent seeming to notice it at all. The head weaved back and forth, turning it's gaze first on Urai, then on the ghost, then at something out of Urai's sight behind the huge coils.

_**"I... hunger..." **_the serpent hissed again, but the tone was different now. Less angry, more controlled. **_"You... shall... feed... me..."_**

Urai glanced at his ghost. It was only a moment, but hardly had his gaze left the serpent then their opponent struck. He felt the air moving and threw himself blindly backwards, but the snake caught him anyway, rows of narrow teeth sinking into his leg before throwing him violently into the air.

_Too fast!_

He gritted his teeth against the pain and slashed at the snake's snout, but his unreleased Zanpakuto just skidded harmlessly off the small, close scales. The snake reared back with an echoing laugh that Urai could feel through the teeth.

_**"Fight harder, little bat! The ssssstrong are tassstiest when they have fought to the bitteresssst end!"**_

Again, the tone had changed.

The snake's jaws suddenly loosened around his leg as it screamed unexpectedly in pain. Urai grabbed one of the teeth and barely caught himself before he could fall. He had to put weight on his torn up leg to get a better grip, but with a grit of his teeth and a surge of effort, he managed to clamber up onto the Hollow's snout while it was distracted. Down below, his ghost and the woman- no, not the woman... Kurosaki Ryohime - flashed around the serpent's thrashing coils, their released Zanpakutos proving a more immediate concern then Urai.

He steadied himself, kneeling on both hands and feet to try and keep his balance on the violently moving serpent. He dug his fingers into the scales, his Zanpakuto still in hand and so caught between himself and his opponent.

_This is it. You have to tell me how to call you, _now_._

For once, his Zanpakuto seemed to agree with his sense of urgency, but she could not do it alone. He closed his eyes and braced himself, then dug down into the Dark Place of his mind. It did not want to move. _You are supposed to descend_, it seemed to say, though it was no spirit and had no voice. It was suppressed, unwanted memory, stifling old power beneath the strength of subconscious rejection. When he had, knowingly or not, let himself sink into oblivion, that power had been able accessible to some extent, and a trace of the instincts that had come with it.

That was no longer good enough.

He dragged them all up, forcing himself to let all of it rush through him. The hopelessness, the cold dispassionate cruelty, the meaninglessness. More then mere memories, these were all the thoughts and feelings that insisted, in an unrelenting stream, that this fight wasn't worth fighting, that Seireitei was not worth saving. Worst of all, he could not allow himself to suppress them again. This was the confrontation they had all known was necessary, and the one even his own powers were convinced he could not withstand.

"I am a Shinigami." He had not meant to speak aloud, but his words were drowned out anyway, unheard. He barely noticed the battle beneath him, though the movement of the snake crushed his fingers into the sharp edges of scales and drew blood, and his grip barely kept him aboard his hostile perch. "I am a Shinigami."

They came to him at the end, though he could not figure out from whom. Was it his Zanpakuto, or the inhabitant of the dark, or... something else? No matter.

His bleeding fingers tightened around the hilt of his Zanpakuto. He became newly aware of the swaying, the sudden abrupt movement that threatened to knock him off as the serpent fought his two ghost friends.

_You should be dead. _

_You are a monster._

_You have no friends._

_They will never trust you._

_Your life means nothing._

Cruel thoughts, but they meant nothing. Urai clung to that knowledge as tightly as his Zanpakuto. They were nothing but echoes from a distant life, and even then they had been lies. He drew in a long, shuddering breath, and then pushed himself to his feet. He finally knew the full release.

"Fade from memory, Kuronamida..."

Urai hesitated as the familiar green lance began to form in his hand. He knew what to say, and that he had to say it, but not what would happen afterwards. _I'm sorry._

"... and arise within, Awaiwarai!"

The serpent threw him off mid-release.

He flipped in the air and landed on one knee, a hand pressed to the ground for balance. His lance was in the other, but it wasn't the same lance; he could _feel_ the difference. The serpent loomed above him, its neck held high and hood spread wide as if it meant to intimidate him into surrendering.

And then, it froze in place. A sudden shiver ran through the serpent from snout to tail, the scales lifting and falling in a display of color and broken light unlike anything Urai had ever seen. He could not tear his eyes away. His grip on his lance loosened without his realizing it as another shiver ran through the snake, filling his vision and making even his breath catch in his throat.

There was a flash, and he serpent that had been towering over them was suddenly on the ground, jaws clamped around Urai's ghost. Then those gleaming eyes were high above him again, blood dripping from its fangs as it threw its head back.

Kurosaki Ryohime moved faster then Urai could follow, only a fraction of a heartbeat behind the serpent's strike. Still too slow. Her scream of rage trailed behind as she thrust upward with her Zanpakuto into the softer scales beneath the chin. She tried to tear it out again through the jaw, but the scales were too tough. Her Zanpakuto got lodged and stuck, leaving her dangling with no momentum and only the snake's own neck to brace herself.

The snake screamed the moment her Zanpakuto pierced through, its half-swallowed prey suddenly forgotten. Before Urai even had the time to draw his breath, another Zanpakuto stabbed up through the snake's mouth - this time from within.

The snake went berserk.

Urai flashed away moments before the floor he had been kneeling on was pulverized by thrashing coils. A bloody body slammed into the ground near where he landed, but before he could even identify the person a great _cracking _sound reverberated through his bones... and the entire building collapsed beneath them.

Everything vanished into a cloud of dust and a wall of wreckage, stabbing and crushing and choking everything like a malevolent force. Urai clenched his eyes shut, his fingernails digging into his palms as the pain of broken bones and lacerated skin flowed through him, gathering from every inch of his body into a focused point behind his ribs.

Pain... but not damage.

Before the dust could settle, he rose. Reiatsu flared out behind him, green energy spreading out from that point of agony in his back almost like wings. His lance burned in his hand, incinerating wreckage that fell too close.

_You only have moments._

He could sense the snake, gathering itself together after the fall it hadn't been any more prepared for then they. He shifted, putting one foot back and bracing himself against the sturdiest piece of wreckage he could find. With a deep breath, he reared back.

"Yozo_ratosshin_!"

...

Ryohime meant to catch her friend, but she could barely sense him over the Scarlet Cobra's violent, uncontrolled reiatsu. When the serpent threw itself into a frenzy, her Zanpakuto still lodged un-moving in its jaw, she let it go and dropped to the ground. In that moment she had feared the whiplash of its rage, but as the floor gave out she realized she may have made a mistake.

_Maigetsu, come._

Her Zanpakuto returned to her hand, and then they dropped.

Another reiatsu spiked, and dust blew suddenly outward from a point behind her. She knew that energy, and so she did not hesitate. She flashed away from the snake, though after a few steps her leg buckled and she collapsed to the shattered ground. Vaguely, she realized she must have been hit during one of the snake's thrashing attacks, but any thought of that vanished as an explosion lit up the storm-darkened sky.

The snake's screaming silhouette appeared for a moment against the dark backdrop of the clouds, then it tore into pieces as green fire devoured it from within. When the sound of the blast had faded and the pressure was gone, Ryohime slowly got to her feet.

All that was left of the Captain's old office, and the entire building in which it had been housed, was ash, and that had been blasted away from the origin of the explosion to pile thickly against the nearest standing structures.

What was left of the snake burned on the ground, a blackened skeleton - half-clad in faded scales - flickering with eerie light. Ryohime could barely tear her gaze away, but this time it was no mesmerizing flutter of scales that held her attention; the sheer destruction was as awe-inspiring as it was horrifying.

Then she remembered her companions. With worry clutching suddenly in her chest, she whirled around, scanning the ashen ruin for any sign of life.

She found Urai just in time to see him collapse into the slightly-less-fine ash further away. She rushed to his side, limping from the injury she still could not remember receiving.

His Zanpakuto, back in unreleased form, fell from his limp fingers as she pushed an arm under his shoulders. For a moment, she almost couldn't find him, not a heartbeat or a trace of spirit energy. Worry turned to dread in a heartbeat, then turned just as quickly to relief as her sensitive fingers caught a pulse of life.

His spiritual energy was drained almost to the limit, but he was alive. She made sure there were no injuries on him that would change that, then rose again. There were other allies who might need her help.

...

The whirlwind died without warning, without apparent cause. Had he not been so exhausted Charles would have had an ideal opening, but now he simply rushed to gain some distance while his opponent hesitated.

Time slowed during battles with the strongest of opponents, stretching minutes into far, far longer. The senses were focused to an absurd degree, the mind raced to keep pace with the speed of their bodies. In that state, it felt like far more then a few seconds before Charles finally realized what had happened. His opponent had no intention of reengaging him. He stood there, his bankai fading even as Charles watched. Without a victor, the battle had simply ended.

All over Seireitei, battles simply ended.


	86. Interlude 34

Interlude

Kurotsuchi Mayuri waited.

Those foolish lieutenants - or captains now, since Seireitei was clearly desperate - had frightened away all his test subjects. He would have preferred to get them alive, but Caro had forgotten to add a proviso to his orders about 'killing all Shinigami' to accommodate his requirements. Now the human-Arrancar hybrids, a delightfully bizarre creation, were in danger of getting wiped out.

"A shame," he mused aloud. "The rest of them would have been amusing to break. The pink one, especially, would been a good replacement for Secondary."

Oh, right. His assistants were dead. He had carefully limited the base's self-destruct, when designing it, so that it would be too weak to kill his pets, but the puny assistants Caro had let him have were dust by now. There was no one to hear him voice his thoughts.

_Where is everyone_?

The fighting seemed to be dying down, all at once. Well, not everywhere. He could still sense the most powerful of Caro's Hollow friends finding people to chew, but they were scattered. The Shinigami... he could sense some of them. Perhaps Caro had sent out a new order, but Mayuri saw no butterflies.

Black claws tore through the air nearby and ripped it apart, holding open the hole long enough for a single figure to walk through before withdrawing with a hasty snap. Mayuri glanced at him, eyes narrow but not truly surprised.

"I thought you were moping around the ruins of the Hold, trying to find survivors," he sneered dismissively. "What are you doing here? Caro call you in?"

General Akama did not reply, but stood and regarded Mayuri as if trying to solve some undoubtedly simple problem. His dull-witted eyes were set in a cold fury, and the burn-scars that were usually barely visible across his face had turned red again, awakened by extreme emotion. (Really, the so-called "Generals" Caro forcibly employed were all idiots. Except himself, of course.)

"How about you try to make yourself useful and find me some living hybrids?" Mayuri suggested when he got no response. "The way these new minions are killing everything in sight, I won't have _anything_ left to replace Primary and Secondary with. What a waste..."

"There will be no new pets for you, Kurotsuchi." Akama's voice matched his expression, that inexplicable hatred he always seemed to be harboring coming through in every syllable. Mayuri rolled his eyes.

"What do you want, then? Just making sure you show up before _all_ the work is done so Caro doesn't realize you're a spineless coward?"

"I don't care what Caro thinks." The way Akama said that, a hint of glee sneaking through the hatred, made Mayuri look back at him curiously. A flicker gleamed in his fellow General's eyes as he spoke, a hint of blue amid the dark green. "And as much as I would like to go and find whatever is left of him and say it to his face, just to be sure... you come first."

Mayuri's eyes narrowed. His hand dropped to the hilt of his sword, fingers curled around the hilt.

Akama smiled at the sight, a wicked, predatory grin that did not match his usual 'puny underling' face. He raised his hand and unlatched his red general's cloak, letting it fall carelessly to the ground behind him as he stepped forward. "Your Zanpakuto is dead," he hissed, grabbing his own Zanpakuto as he spoke. "Your pet Hollows have been defeated. And now... Caro's leash is gone. You are a dead man, Kurotsuchi."

"Why, exactly?" Mayuri snapped his fingers in sudden recognition. "If this is over the matter of your failed-Arrancar minion, the little eel fellow, then you know as well as I do that Caro ordered that experiment."

A wave of pressure crashed down on him, sudden as a meteor. "A hundred and twenty years ago, you set my soul on _fire_!" Akama screamed, blue reiatsu rising around him in visible fury. He drew his Zanpakuto, the blade screeching as he ripped through the steel sheath in his haste. "You took _notes_ while I burned alive!"

Mayuri frowned. "I don't remember any-"

"_Burn him to ash,_ _Hageshihono!" _

Wild blue fire encircled them, a living fire hungry for blood.


	87. Chapter Fifty

Chapter Fifty

Ryohime found him among the wreckage (half-supporting himself on one elbow and torn almost to shreds by snake-teeth) trying to shelter another fallen Shinigami with his body. He was still conscious, but his pale yellow eyes were glazed from pain.

"So, you survived," she said, putting her arm under his and around his waist. "Alright, let's get you out of there so I can heal you."

He let out a breath, almost a groan but not quite, as she pulled him out of the debris. "Check... that one."

Ryohime glanced at the other, dusty figure in the debris, then back at her old companion. He lay limply in her arms, but he _was_ still breathing.

"Fine, but if you die in the minute I'm gone, I'll hunt down your spirit in Rukongai and kill you again."

He let out a rasping chuckle, then his eyes rolled back into his head.

"Moron."

It no longer bothered her to use stolen Fourth Division secrets; she cast a hasty remote-healing kido to stop the worst of his bleeding, then went to see to the other Shinigami lying half-buried in ash and dust. She had noticed a body lying in the corner of the room when the battle started, but there had been no time to give it a second thought; apparently _he_ had time while she was channeling a bankai.

The other Shinigami seemed dead. He had looked dead when she first saw him and he looked dead now, but after a long moment she found the faintest flicker still keeping his spirit alive. Urgency struck, and she knelt beside him, healing-kido glowing in her hands.

He had no stab or slash wounds, the usual indicators of injuries caused by Zanpakuto - he had been beaten almost to death with some narrow, blunt weapon. Blood caked his hair, but it wasn't just skin-deep... his skull was cracked in at least four places. He was lucky to be alive, but Ryohime was not entirely sure she could keep him that way. She had watched the Fourth Division for years, but her only chances to practice had been on Zanpakuto injuries. These were just different enough to scare her.

Footsteps, muffled by the ash. She did not turn; she knew Urai's reiatsu in her sleep.

"We... did it." His voice was subdued, stunned. She glanced around, vaguely hoping to find some scissors lying around, then reached for her Zanpakuto.

"Barely," she replied, and _very_ carefully began cutting her victim's hair. She definitely did not want to accidentally heal bloody hair half inside the man's head, and as it was she could barely tell what she was seeing. "For a moment there... I wondered."

A familiar hand, light and not-quite-there, landed on her shoulder. His long fingernails brushed against her cheek.

"Our plan worked."

She had to swallow a sob. Muramasa's voice... she had missed it so much. Somehow, she had forgotten how much she missed it when she had earned Maigetsu's shikai, but now it was impossible to ignore. His calm voice, the comforting touch of his hand - they made her feel like a child again, crying over the loss of her father while Muramasa hovered over her.

"We have so much to talk about..." she murmured, but then forced herself to focus. This Shinigami, whoever he was, was next to dead. She could not become distracted with a life in her hands.

Urai knelt beside his ghost next to Ryohime, the unspecialized healing-kido they had let him learn once again seeming inadequate. Fangs as long as his forearm had stabbed into the ghost in two... three places, front and back. "How are you still alive?" he muttered, but it hit him that this particular ghost had a hundred scars that could have been just as horrifying wounds at some point. Some Shinigami just went through a lot.

He glanced back at the huge, still-burning snake skeleton that had once been Arrarrico Caro, what little energy he had left pouring through his palms in a feeble kido.

"How... _how_ did your plan work?" he asked, directing the question at the Zanpakuto spirit behind her since Ryohime seemed busy. "What, exactly, did you do to him to make him lose control like that?"

Muramasa's expression darkened.

"Hollows are the collection of dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of spirits, all subservient to a single dominant soul. Cut out the captain, and the power vacuum that remains would drive any Hollow insane."

Urai's ghost flinched, then blinked one eye open. "... So... same power, Muramasa. You did say... 'cut out'?"

"He did," replied Urai, since the Zanpakuto did not seem keen on replying. "Why?"

His patient winced, letting his half-raised head fall back on the ground. "Because... same thing happened... to me."

Ryohime looked up from her own patient to meet Urai's bewildered gaze. "My bankai hasn't changed, though Maigetsu can jump in now. Muramasa does not destroy, he divides. We still haven't killed Caro."

Urai's heart dropped. He lunged to his feet, grabbing his Zanpakuto. _I can't manage shikai again, so soon, but Ryohime needs to be where she is. _

He whirled on a circle of ash, pale and fine where they were but growing thicker and interspersed with the remains of walls and ceiling further out. Nothing moved...

He closed his eyes and concentrated. He sensed Ryohime, the phantom reiatsu that had become familiar now strong and very much real. His other ghost was weaker, but definitely there. He could not sense the Shinigami Ryohime was trying to heal... if he was alive, it was just by a thread.

There... something. Just a trace, but it was close, and he did not recognize the energy. Warily, knowing none of them were in real fighting condition, he advanced into the solider part of the ruin.

The serpent had torn the building apart in its thrashings; pieces of wall stuck up nowhere near where they should have been, and just beyond the disintegrating-range of Urai's blast lay what must have been all that remained of the First Division Captain's balcony. Ash covered everything, but that was from the shockwave, not the blast itself.

Everything was out of place, so nothing stood out to Urai. He scanned the ruin, trying to piece together some sense of what he was looking at beneath the equalizing white ash.

He almost missed it, lying in the ash. Twice he scanned the area and saw nothing, then the man moved.

On his hands and knees, half-hidden by a crushed bookshelf, he had been invisible. When he stood, clutching and leaning against the bookshelf as if his legs could not support him, it was the movement alone that betrayed him. The vibrant red and purple robes Urai had been looking for were gone; he was clad in plain white robes like any ordinary spirit might have, like thousands in the nicer Rukongai Districts wore every day. Even his hair, once as red as his robes and pushed back in neat waves, hung limp and grey around his face.

But Urai knew it was him.

"Caro."

The Arrancar... no, Urai couldn't even call him that anymore. There was no mask, and what reiatsu he could sense was devoid of Hollow influence. The _former_ Arrancar lifted his head and Urai did not even flinch to meet his gaze. There was no power left in those eyes... in fact, Urai found them rather mundane. Dull brown, flecked with grey.

Caro tried to pull himself up, but his arms trembled at the effort and he eventually gave up, turning to lean heavily against the wrecked furniture. He did not answer Urai's silent challenge, or even acknowledge him at all. With his back firmly against wood, he raised his hands, staring at them as if they were new to him. He cocked his head slightly, turning them over, then lifted his right hand to his cheek. His fingers curled when he found nothing there and he listlessly rubbed the limp fist across his eyes.

His lips began to move. Urai carefully edged closer, wary of this being some kind of trap, but the former Arrancar's faint words became clear before he had to get too close for comfort.

"This all could have been avoided. You could have stopped this. It all could have been avoided..."

Urai straightened. That was not the tone of a man ready for a fight.

"You attacked us, Caro," he accused. "Your downfall was inevitable, and it was your own fault."

The pale spirit stopped his muttering abruptly and looked back up at Urai. Leaning, half-hunched in on himself, against a bookshelf while repeating pathetic excuses, he had looked completely defeated, but now some semblance of the self-proclaimed Lord of Death flashed back across his face.

"You did not win," he snapped, and tried to push himself upright. Whatever Ryohime and her Zanpakuto had done to him clearly left him drained; he collapsed back against the wood and slid down almost to his knees, but his next words still spit fire. "Look around you, Shinigami - this is not your victory. I tried to _save_ Soul Society... you have caused its destruction."

"Your _'_saving' _was_ destruction."

Caro let out a sharp breath, turning his head away. "And that is why I had to try. _Shinigami_... always so certain of themselves, so proud, so _right_. You are doomed now, Seireitei is doomed, we're all doomed." He glanced sideways at Urai. "And, do you know what?" His voice sharpened again into a hiss. "I'd do it again. I would let death itself fall apart just to see you despicable Shinigami burn."

Urai looked where Caro had been, across Seireitei. The storm clouds, summoned undoubtedly by someone's release, were beginning to disperse, but the smoke still hung heavily over the city. Fires still glowed in every Division.

"And that is why you needed to be defeated, Caro," he said quietly. "At the end of the day... you are just another bitter tyrant."

Wood scraped against stone. Urai looked back, but Caro merely stood on trembling legs, leaning to one side as if even his spine didn't have the energy to straighten.

"Enjoy my defeat, then. I'll be enjoying yours."

He turned and, slowly and clearly with great effort, began to walk away. Urai watched him go for a long minute, then sheathed his Zanpakuto.

There were wounded to take care of.


	88. Chapter Fifty-One

Chapter Fifty-One

When Kaba opened his eyes, light stabbed _all_ the way into his brain like actual knives, so he closed them again. It struck him immediately that, since he could still remember his name and that of his Zanpakuto, he must not have actually died in Caro's office, but by the Soul King it felt like he had.

"Oh, you're awake. Good, but don't try to move just yet." He did not recognize the voice, but he recognized the tone. _Fourth Division?_ "Can you tell me your name? What Division are you from?"

His mouth tasted like carbon and dirt. He licked his dry lips, but it didn't help. "Kaba Naoko, Twelfth Division Fifth Seat, though for my heroics today and the _unfortunate_ loss of Fourth Seat Tadataka, I'm sure that will be changing soon."

"Do you know where you are, then?"

_Adult woman's voice. _Fourth Division had a female captain... didn't it? Kaba had enough on his plate managing the politics of his own Division to bother sparing memory on the others.

"First Division Captain's office, and before you ask, yes, I do remember what happened." He tried opening his eyes again, just a little, but sunlight still hated him so he aborted that plan. "I came to single-handedly defeat Caro. That may have been a bad idea, in retrospect, but at least now I know that Caro's defeat was my doing."

He could _feel_ the shift in mood at his claim. Not surprising.

"You were unconscious and bleeding to death when we arrived," the healer-woman replied, a little sternly. Kaba smiled faintly, though his head still felt like nails were being driven through it from the inside.

"Yes. Let my captain know... I redeemed the Twelfth Division."

Ryohime cast a sleeping kido on the injured officer, again thinking fondly of the Fourth Division instructors who had unknowingly taught her so much. Her concern over her patient's mental state satisfactorily answered, she much preferred to finish healing him _without_ talking. It wouldn't be terribly effective against a fifth seat, but a little peace was better then nothing.

The smoke was beginning to fade, blown away from Seireitei by winds natural or manufactured. It was good to see sunlight again... it felt like a reassurance from the rest of the world that it really was over.

She sensed Urai coming back and looked up, over her shoulder.

"Caro?"

"I let him go." His tone clearly refused to apologize for it. "He can't cause any more damage now."

Ryohime turned back to her patients, eyeing the one who _hadn't_ bragged about defeating Caro alone. "I think you're right. Mura- _Kudoko_ cut him off from every hint of Hollow power he had, and unlike this one, Arrarrico Caro was not a Shinigami beneath the mask."

Urai glanced down at his 'ghost', patched up but still unconscious. "Why... don't you ever use his name? When you talk to one another, when you talk _about_ him, you sound like you can barely stand one another, but then you slip and manage to fight alongside one another like two sides of a blade."

Ryohime did not even try to explain. Memories flashed through her mind that she knew there was no way to verbalize, not in a way anyone but she, and _him,_ would understand. Instead, she simplified.

"We destroyed one another, and then realized we didn't have anyone else. In the end, using our names was torture, reminders of something old that we'd ruined." Her kido flickered; she stopped for a moment and rubbed her arms, tracing scars beneath her sleeves. "But that's all over now. I can... I _have_ to be Kurosaki Ryohime again. Somewhere out there are people who I need to see again."

"And him?"

She took a brisk breath and reactivated her healing kido, a general one she could use in both hands, one for each patient.

"I don't know. Only he can decide that."

Urai took the hint. "I'll go scouting for a bit," he suggested, and when she nodded he flashed away (rather slowly) to do just that.

He found a relatively stable First Division building to perch on and climbed to the roof to scan the city. There was very little movement... far off, he spotted one dark figure running along a wall and someone was clearly putting out fires, but the Shinigami seemed to be keeping their heads down. Perhaps they suspected some trick, or maybe...

_No. There have to be more survivors._

_"Attention, Shinigami."_

Urai nearly fell off his rooftop in surprise. The voice spoke almost right in his ear, but also far away... a bakudo.

_"This is Isane Taichou of the Fourth Division. We have set up field stations in four locations throughout Seireitei for those in need of healing. Any survivors who do not need immediate medical attention, please check in with a Fourth Division officer at the following locations. We will need everyone's help to find and transport the wounded."_

A series of images flashed through Urai's mind, then the communication ended. He closed his eyes, committing them to memory, then jumped off his perch.

"Ryohime!"

She whirled on him in alarm, Zanpakuto drawn, when he flashed back into camp, but quickly relaxed. "Don't startle me," she scolded, then sheathed her sword. "What is it?"

"Isane Taichou is still alive and organizing the survivors. I don't know if they know Caro has been defeated - we need to go report in."

Her reaction was not what he had expected - she flinched, then looked away. "Not yet. You go ahead, but I'm not done with these two."

Urai stepped closer, frowning slightly. "What's the matter? The Fourth Division can take over now. You have to be exhausted... using your bankai to destroy an Arrancar, and then healing three people? I'm surprised you're still on your feet."

She looked back at him and he caught a flicker of actual panic in her eyes. "Urai... I can't."

"Why?"

She did not reply for a long moment, and when she did her voice was subdued. "You are a special case, you know. We were friends before, but not anymore. We trained together for a year and you never saw us. In truth, you barely know me, but I know I can trust you. Them? They know... _her_."

Realization hit. Urai _oohed_ silently. "What _did_ happen to you and him?" he asked finally. He had put off thinking about it, but what hints they had dropped seemed to make no sense with the reality he knew. "Are you the real Kurosaki Ryohime? The one that comes to Seireitei every week to visit the Fourteenth Division Captain...?"

_How can that even be?_

But she nodded, trying and failing to concentrate on healing some minor bruising on the other ghost. "None of them would understand, yet." She let out a breath of humorless laughter. "I barely understand myself. Just... go on, tell them what we did, but don't tell them about _us_. If they insist, tell them... tell them Kaba Goseki helped you defeat Caro. I need to... think."

She looked so miserable. Urai hesitated, wishing he could think of something to say, but then turned away.

"I'll come back to help you as soon as I can," he promised, then steeled himself and flashed away towards the nearest Fourth Division officer.

...

It was Lilynette who found them, hiding beneath the street where some absurd attack had smashed through to the sewers. How she found them, Kitsune couldn't guess; his bakudo was supposed to keep those within completely undetectable, but the spirit wolf looked straight through it at them as if it didn't exist.

"I think that means the worst is over," the artificial soul declared, poking Dikayumi in the side. The Quincy kid had practically broken down when the captains started attacking, but his assigned partner hadn't noticed. In fact, all the _powerful_ of their little group had ended up running off with their own opponents, leaving Kitsune alone. In a veritable whirlwind of death. With a Quincy _possibly_ battling a terrifying dark side right next to him.

But it was all fine. He was just the mod soul, which meant he _also_ wasn't responsible for saving the worlds. All in all, he was pretty happy with his part in this whole affair.

"Come on, Glasses-kun," he said, slipping Dikayumi's arm around his narrow shoulders. It was a good thing the team-archer was so young and little... if he had been forced to look after, say, Edward, then there was no way he would have been able to drag him into the cover of a sewer, or get him back on his feet afterwards. "I bet the others are waiting for us."

"I almost hate you, 'Sune," muttered Dikayumi, but he managed to get his feet under him and stand without Kitsune's help. "I should have stayed home..."

"Me too, buddy, me too. In fact, I think we all should have stayed at home, but then we wouldn't be the Special Units Division, would we?"

Lilynette turned and leapt back up through the hole to the street, where she turned and stared at them. _Come on, it's easy_, she seemed to be saying, though she had never deigned to speak to Kitsune directly.

"Easy for you, puppy!" he called up at her. "There is no ladder, and I can't just throw the Quincy over my shoulder and leap around like your master could."

"'The Quincy'?" The Quincy sounded insulted. "Alright, _mod soul_, that's enough of your help."

The arm that had, a moment ago, been pressing down against Kitsune's shoulders for support suddenly tightened into a backwards throttle, and with a neat little kick-to-the-knees Dikayumi knocked Kitsune off balance and scooped him up. With a sharp breath, he leapt up and hopped up through the air as though there was an invisible staircase just for him.

"Show off," grumbled Kitsune, slipping out of the human's arms the moment they reached the street. "Some day, I will figure out a way for mod souls to run on air like _everyone else can_, and then you will be trying to keep up with my fleet feet."

_Dream on_, Lilynette's gleaming blue eyes seemed to say, then she turned away with a flick of her long, majestic, half-transparent tail and began running off down the street. Kitsune and Dikayumi hurried to follow.

She seemed to be leading them specifically to avoid the Shinigami of Seireitei. Kitsune could sense spirits every now and then just on the edge of his internal radar, but Lilynette took long cuts around them to avoid being seen. (Kitsune was just as glad; he still wasn't quite sure how the _official_ Soul Society police would take his existence, so he would rather keep a low profile.) Even with her diversions, though, it did not take Lilynette long to reach her destination, her two followers far from her heels but well within eyesight.

It was just another wrecked street now, but after a minute Kitsune recognized it as the place where they had split off with Erina and Edward. Herald was already there, of course, leaning against a wall with his arms crossed and eyes closed in a concerned scowl, and Charles stood casually in the air above them, one hand shading his eyes as he examined the city around them.

_"I found them, Starrka," _Lilynette declared. Herald's eyes snapped open and he almost smiled when he caught sight of them alive and, mostly, well.

"You are brilliant, my good girl," he said, making Lilynette's tail wag, then added, "Yylfordt is on his way already, according to Charles, so can you find Edward and Erina? He shouldn't be hard to find..."

"_Alright, but then you owe me a chin-scratch,_" she replied, and in a flash she was gone.

"What's going on?" Dikayumi asked, putting a hand to his head as though he was getting a headache. "I haven't heard any fighting for a while. Did someone beat Caro?"

"I hope so, because otherwise things are going to get much worse before they get better," replied Herald grimly. "If they get better at all. Charles said his opponent just stopped fighting and then left, which matches up with the actions of the pack of ninjas I accidentally stumbled into, so either Caro's mind-control is gone or he's recalled everyone for some new evil scheme."

Charles dropped down next to Herald, broken and useless chain-links clinking on his belt. "Here comes Yylfordt. I think he saw my signal. Good to see you're still alive, Dikayumi."

"You too." Dikayumi leaned against Herald's wall, then slid down to rest his head against his knees. "I can't wait for this to be done so I can go back home."

Herald gave Kitsune a questioning look, but Kitsune could only shrug helplessly. "Hey, you did a good job," the co-lieutenant insisted in his own lack-luster way, then sat down next to Dikayumi. "Just look at what Charles had to go through - what he still has to deal with - in trying to control Nnoitra. Considering the situation, simply keeping that black Hollow of yours on the inside was probably more then we could have hoped for."

"If I had an inner Hollow, I bet I'd be horrible at talking to it," Kitsune suggested, trying to be encouraging, but then immediately got distracted by the idea. "Or maybe we would be best friends, like Herald and Lily-sama. Or... maybe it would erase my entire identity!"

"We could only wish," came a new voice, and they all looked up to see Yylfordt climbing over the wall. The blonde stopped on the top and glanced over them, then raised his head to frown into the distance.

"I am way more useful then _another_ crazy Hollow would be," Kitsune insisted, just to fill the lifeless air. "I can do bakudo and healing kido - Oh! Does anyone need any healing? Starrk-sama? Yylfordt?"

"Grimmjow needed help..." murmured Yylfordt, ignoring Kitsune's kind offer completely. "Does anyone know who he was fighting? I could feel the sparks even from my fight with the lieutenant."

Charles sighed in poorly-suppressed irritation. "Steve ran off around that same time, but I wasn't in any position to ask why or pursue the matter. The... Third Division Captain, I think it was... was trying to kill me at the time, so all I know is that he _didn't_ come to back me up or kill Kurotsuchi like he promised."

"I don't sense anything," Herald commented, though his troubled frown was slowly coming back. "Knowing that one, he probably joined forces with Edward and Erina and stormed Caro's base of operations without us."

"Someone has to have taken out Caro," agreed Yylfordt, sitting down on the ridge of the wall. "Though... it would be nice to meet some other Arrancar again. Not that there is anything wrong with humans," he added hastily, "but the World of the Living does get boring sometimes."

"You could have tried _not_ killing off your human identity and breaking the hearts of your family," Herald retorted. "I'm sure you would have gotten used to playing human eventually."

Yylfordt didn't even bother replying; he laughed the notion away and went back to scanning the horizon, one leg dangling over the wall and the other serving as an elbow-rest.

He was the first to spot Lilynette, though Herald must have sensed her coming. "Looks like she found someone," he commented, then his eyes narrowed again. A moment later Lilynette bounded over the wall and went straight for Herald, jumping up to shove her nose in his face and lick his ear.

"Woah! What's up with you?" he asked, ruffling her spectral fur with both hands. Then his fond look turned to worry. "Are you alright?"

If the wolf replied, she did it so no one but Herald could hear. Everyone else's attention was drawn to the battered, bloody figure who landed on the roof of the building across the street, then slowly slipped off it to the ground.

"Oh, good!" declared Yylfordt, following Erina's example and landing next to where Dikayumi was still sitting with his head in his hands. "Though it looks like the fighting on your side was pretty intense... did Szayel make it to you guys alright? Where is Grimmjow?"

Even Kitsune, with his less-then-perfect artificial senses, could feel the sudden change in atmosphere. With a single look and no words, Erina communicated something no one wanted to hear.

Yylfordt's expression turned to stone.

"Erina... where are my brothers?"


	89. Chapter Fifty-Two

Chapter Fifty-Two

Ryohime slumped, wishing there was a wall left standing that she could lean against, but not wanting to move far enough to reach the one across the ashen crater. She wished, too, that she could have kept Muramasa manifested, just to have him there, but maintaining an unnecessary _shikai_ would have meant that much less energy she could put into healing kido.

She had done all she could. Even a low-level hado would be beyond her abilities for now... if any enemy appeared, it would be up to the still-injured Shinigami to deter them, and only one had regained consciousness.

He stood nearby, his back to her and his hand on the hilt of his Zanpakuto. They hadn't exchanged a word since Urai left.

_Urai... _

She wished it was as easy to adopt a new name as he made it seem. They had never thought of that, in all the years of being trapped together. Why bother coming up with new names after the old ones died when it was just the two of them? He was _he_, and she was _her._ That was that. It was enough.

Not anymore, it wasn't. She could either be _her_, or she could be Ryohime, and there were people who would only know her as Ryohime. She'd have to face that identity sooner or later, unless...

_He wants to leave._

She could see it in the tension of his back, the set of his shoulders, and the twitching of his scarred fingers against the hilt of his Zanpakuto. He could sense them, too, distant but there. The Fourteenth Division, the Special Units. Everyone who they had once fought alongside, but who they had grown so far beyond that the very idea of seeing them again stirred butterflies of panic and pain within their chests. How do you relate to someone who you haven't seen for nearly two decades when, to them, it has only been a day or two?

So much easier to just vanish. She licked her lips.

"We have to explain, at least."

He did not say anything, but turned and simply looked at her in reply. She forced herself to look back, right into his yellow eyes. Eyes, she realized now consciously despite _knowing_ for years, that were no longer quite human. His black hair was, at best, as long as hers, but cut unevenly and sticking out wildly from years of neglect and near-misses with Zanpakuto blades. Even his face, his body, seemed a little inhuman, hard and muscular from years of constant battle, but gaunt and skeletal from living a half-life without nourishment of any kind. They had been trapped by time, able to change themselves but cut off from anything that could effect the world around them.

And... the scars.

She knew she looked the same. They weren't ghosts anymore... they were revenants. How could they go back to the World of the Living after this? Their old lives? There was no way.

He said it with a look, and she had no reply. He was right.

"But... we have family," she managed, and he looked away. "They don't know. If we leave now, they will _never_ know."

"Just as well." His voice was scratched and hoarse. His release had let him speak, for a time, with the smooth voice of Aizen, hide his closed eyes behind a smiling mask, but it had not fixed the damage done by years of disuse. Her voice had weakened, his had rusted. "What good could come of pretending... _he_ still exists? He doesn't. I might as well be a stranger, come to tell her I murdered her son."

A stab of agony twisted through Ryohime's chest. She choked back a dry sob and hugged her arms around herself.

"I'm... as old as he is," she whispered. "Oh, _kami_... with everything that has happened to us... I may be older then my own-"

She couldn't finish. He was right. There was a reason she had planned to vanish too, if ever they got out. Muramasa had made her think there was another way, but no. He was different.

"What _are_ you?"

The Fifth Seat's voice jolted her out of her thoughts. She looked over at where he had been lying, and now leaned half-raised on one arm, and could not think of how to answer.

"Ghosts," _he_ said dryly. The Fifth Seat narrowed his eyes.

"You weren't always. Where have you been? Hueco Mundo? The beyond-Rukongai wastes? A prison-basement under the Twelfth Division?"

She licked her dry lips again. "Right here, but not entirely. We..."

"Glitched out?" the Fifth Seat suggested, his sky-blue eyes lighting up with a kind of gleeful excitement. "Got stuck between layers of spirit? Perhaps you were ready to be reincarnated but never properly managed it? I wrote a theory once (this was ages ago for my promotion-exam) about Soul Society existing at a hub between multiple worlds, and spirits recycling between all those worlds through Seireitei. If that was true-"

"No." _He_ glared at the Fifth Seat, cutting short the off-topic rambling. His gaze snapped over to Ryohime. "If he is well enough to talk, we can go."

The Fifth Seat sat up fast. "What? No! This is too good a mystery to let slip away from me... you have to stay, please. Just for a little. You don't even have to-!"

"We are not puzzles to be solved," Ryohime replied harshly. "You cannot help us by poking and prodding." She rose, feeling empty and annoyed at her own optimism earlier. "Goodbye, Kaba Goseki."

_He_ nodded, his own expression matching how she felt. She took a deep breath, but it did nothing to lessen the void in her chest.

"Wait!" The Fifth Seat lurched to his feet and lunged forward, grabbing her around the wrist before she could walk away. His tone changed, quick as thought. When she glanced back at him, the excitement that had shone in his eyes was gone, replaced by something... else. "Just hold on, alright? No prodding necessary, but... I might be able to help you, anyway."

She stopped. _He_ stopped, too, and looked back with barely-constrained astonishment.

Kaba Goseki released her arm and stuck his hands into his sleeves, pulling them out again with a maroon book in one and a feather-quill in the other.

"I don't specialize in happy endings," he began hastily, sticking the quill behind his ear to flip furiously through the small pages, "but I think... hmm. Well, you saved my life, so it's only fair for me to try and return the favor, right? Something happened to you two, something that made it impossible for you to live with real people?" He glanced up at them when neither replied. "You have to work with me... Kessho is only so flexible. What went wrong? How would you fix it, if you could?"

They looked at each other, equally stunned and conflicted. _How... would we fix_ _it? _

"I'd... make it so it never happened," she managed finally, feeling light-headed. "You can't go back to normal after that."

But the Fifth Seat did not seem convinced. He kept searching, more slowly now, scanning each page and mouthing sentences as if double-checking what his eyes were seeing. Then, abruptly, he stopped. His fingers thrummed against the cover and he glanced up at her, then _him_, then back at her. The fever-excitement and mad-scientist air he had been giving off since he first woke was completely gone; now, he just looked concerned.

"I have something, a fate, that might just work." His voice dropped slightly, his tone became reluctant. "But... unfortunately, Kessho does not repeat fates, and I can only write one name for each."

She stared at him. Perhaps she simply did not want to understand, but whatever he was getting at refused to register. He looked back down at his book, kept a finger on the page and flipped through the remaining pages, but when he looked back up again his expression was even more resigned then before.

"I _might_ be able to make it so that whatever happened to you never happened. But there is only one fate like it that I can give, and that only to one person." He lifted his hand to adjust glasses that no longer sat on his nose, three fingers outstretched. When that tic failed him, he dropped his hand and sighed. "'But for _someone_,'" he quoted, "'the events were little more then a fearful dream soon forgotten. Upon waking, it was as if nothing had changed.' The fate it is yours, if you want it, for saving my life... but you have to decide who gets it."


	90. Chapter Fifty-Three

Chapter Fifty-Three

"The Shinigami - they must have been Fourth Division - were already there when I regained consciousness," Erina explained, trying to keep her voice steady. "I don't know if they didn't notice me because of the rubble or if they were just preoccupied, but I was able to take a look around without them noticing me." She rubbed the back of her neck. "I guess they _were_ preoccupied. The whole area looked like... like a tornado went through it."

She could keenly feel the eyes boring into her as she relayed the story, grim and confused. She bit her lip, then forced herself to continue.

"They were tending to... a very badly wounded captain nearby. Since the last thing I remembered before getting knocked out was Edward fighting that captain, at first I thought he must have won. But then I realized he would never leave any of us lying unconscious in the dirt, so I started looking around. I didn't find him," she added hastily. "I don't know where he is... it might be anywhere."

No one interrupted her. No one spoke. She took a deep breath, then let it all out in an agonized sigh. "But... I did find Steve."

Dikayumi, sitting against the wall, buried his head back in his arms. Herald muttered something under his breath and half-turned away, but he couldn't walk away.

Erina knew how they felt, but her attention was focused on someone else. "Yylfordt... I'm sorry, but he's..."

"Don't say it."

She closed her mouth. Maybe she could have done this differently, maybe there had been a better way to say it, but it was done now. She glanced helplessly at Herald, but his eyes were fixed on Yylfordt. Lilynette lay at his feet, her tail curled around his ankles as though making sure he was still there. Even _her_ wolfish eyes looked sad.

Yylfordt must have forgotten to breathe; he swayed, caught himself with a half-step backwards and took a breath so sharply it hissed against his gritted teeth.

"We've died before," he finally murmured to the ground. "They can't keep Szayel down..." The words seemed to light a fire inside him and he looked up at Erina fiercely, as though she was arguing. "He _can't_ be killed. He's better then all of you... death means nothing to Szayelaporro Granz."

He whirled around and leapt up onto the nearest available perch. "I have to find my master," he called back at them without turning. "Grimmjow needs me."

A moment later, he was gone.

No one moved to follow him. Erina looked around at the rest of the Fourteenth Division - Herald and Lilynette, Charles, Dikayumi, Kitsune their mod soul... and her.

Herald met her gaze this time, and suddenly she could read the misery in his eyes, too. He saw the same thing she did. The holes.

"They have to be out there, somewhere," she whispered, but he either did not hear or did not care to respond. Their now-lone lieutenant went to sit next to Dikayumi, and Lilynette sat down on the other side of the shivering Quincy with a low, sympathetic whine.

They were all still there when the Shinigami found them, sitting or standing in a loose, silent group, consumed by their thoughts.

...

There was no moment when everyone realized they could relax again. The Shinigami were wary, they looked over their shoulders, they gave each other dark looks. The lingering fear that it was not over hung over Seireitei like smoke, and there was no wind that could blow it away.

Even the news that Caro was defeated was treated as almost... unimportant. Urai made his report in the middle of a ruined building, partially cleared to make room for the wounded and dying, to the Ninth Division lieutenant. The man was distressed and distracted, and Urai could guess why. The fighting all over Seireitei had been brutal, but the worst of it had to be, by far, when captains fought. Perhaps they had sought each other out in some desperate gamble to keep themselves from killing unseated officers by droves, or perhaps they had special orders. Either way, it seemed that two captains had already been confirmed as dead, several others had been found barely clinging to life from the intensity of their battles, and still more were still missing. To Urai's horror, they claimed his own captain was one of the latter.

Lieutenants, officers, unseated Shinigami... every rank and Division in Seireitei had taken massive casualties. There was hardly a building left undamaged in all of Seireitei, entire sections having been blown apart by combat. The last Hollows had been chased out of Soul Society, leaderless, and no trace of Caro's mind-control seemed to remain, but, even so, this was no victory. Even saying they had _defeated_ Caro made Urai hesitate - it felt like a lie.

It took longer then he had expected, but after fetching a Fourth Division healer some supplies and helping other Shinigami clear a street to accommodate more wounded, he forced himself to slip away. He kept an eye out as he ran back towards the First Division, stopping here and there to mark the locations of wounded Shinigami with a weak kido flare. They became rarer, harder to spot, as he neared the building Caro had claimed for his headquarters.

Finding the place was easy, but when he arrived only the Fifth Seat remained.

He looked around, as if his ghosts would leave a trail for him to follow, but the wind that had served to drive away smoke earlier was already erasing their footprints in the ash. The Fifth Seat had moved, gone to perch on the nearest solid surface while he obsessively cleaned his glasses.

"Where did they go?"

The other Shinigami held up his glasses to squint through a lens, then slid the pair on with an almost subdued air that did not suit him.

"They left."

Urai shifted his weight from one leg to the other, suppressing his urge to say... something uncharitable. "And you... did not ask where they were going?" he said instead, carefully. The other Shinigami shrugged, focusing on his second, smaller-framed pair of glasses.

"It was none of my business, and (while normally that wouldn't stop me) considering they saved my life I thought it the least I could do to let it go without prying." He looked up thoughtfully at Urai, as if struggling with some internal debate, then added, "They did leave you a message, though. 'Say nothing, even if they ask about us. We were never here.' I think it would be a good idea to respect their wishes on that."

"Why?" challenged Urai. "Now that they are gone, why should we stay quiet?"

The second pair of glasses went right above the first, but even with two pairs on the Fifth Seat still managed to look over the rims sternly. "Because in the event that they _do _come back, I don't think they would be very pleased with anyone found spreading rumors about them. Nor would it serve any purpose. Trust me on this one; let them go."


End file.
